To Better (K)nights
by Sagistic
Summary: Being kicked out of Beacon after his transcript were revealed was something Jaune expected. What he didn't expect was to have a new avenue open to him, one that can still let him become the hero he wanted to be. After all, how hard can fixing Ozpin's mistakes be? Cover Art by Bumblebee358.
1. Chapter 1

Alright, so, a while back I posted a story under the title, 'To Better (K)nights'. The basis for the story was the typical 'Jaune gets expelled from Beacon' direction and some people actually liked it. However, shortly after I put another chapter explaining that I didn't want to write the story because of a few reasons.

The main reason being that I felt that the RWBY-verse didn't have an excess of characters outside of the main cast. That being the case, I didn't want to write a story that had to rely on a plethora of OCs, even if a few would be used only once.

However! After thinking about it some more, I've decided to give it a shot again. I don't know how long it would be and I where it would end, but I'm hoping that you enjoy the story regardless. Anyway, here's…

* * *

To Better (K)nights.

Jaune sighed as he opened his eyes and let out a sigh. Five days. It had only been five days since his expulsion from Beacon and since then he's done nothing but stay in his temporary dorm.

'And here I thought things would work themselves out in the end.' The blonde thought as he continued to look at the ceiling above him. 'Looks like I wasn't cut out to be a Huntsman after all…I bet Rouge's just aching to rub that into my face' The blonde let out a sigh at that thought before he let the events, that had led up to his current situation, replay in his mind.

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" _I got my hands on some fake transcripts and lied." Jaune said, turning back to Pyrrha to see her looking at him in shock. Seeing that his partner wasn't going to speak, Jaune let out a sigh before hanging his head and turning around. "This is what I've always wanted to be…a hero…" The blonde mumbled out. After a moment of silence, Jaune didn't bother to turn around when he heard his partner walk away._

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'I guess I should've explained myself a bit more to Pyrrha.' Jaune thought, a frown growing his face as he remembered the distance that grew between him and his partner. At first it was minor things, such as avoiding eye contact before it escalated to avoiding conversations until they were nothing more than associates. 'That's not mentioning Cardin and the problems he brought with him.' The blonde couldn't help flinch at the memories of Cardin's 'support'.

The leader of Team Cardinal had used Jaune's fake transcripts as blackmail and had forced the blonde to do or join him in shameful acts. Of course, Nora and Ren had tried to offer help to the blonde, but Pyrrha had managed to convince them that Jaune had things under control. Whether it was to help Jaune or punish him, the blonde couldn't tell you.

'I'm just glad that I managed to sort things out.' The blonde said, the events at Forever Fall coming to front of his mind.

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 _Jaune was breathing heavily as he pointed his sword towards Cardin, the mace wielder on the ground with a black eye. After refusing to throw a jar of red syrup at Pyrrha, Cardin had threatened to reveal Jaune's transcripts, only to be met with a punch by Jaune. The resulting fight was heavily stacked against Jaune, but the blonde had managed to beat said odds and take down Cardin. The rest of Cardin's team had left in order to give their leader some space and to deter anyone that was nearby._

" _I don't care what happens to me…but stay away from my friends." The blonde said, sheathing his sword and walking away._

" _I'll make you regret this, Arc." Cardin said, getting Jaune to roll his eyes as he made his back to the others._

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"And now here I am." Jaune mumbled, rolling onto his side. If Jaune was honest with himself, he thought that things would return to normal. Unfortunately, Fate had decided to play against him and, as if to spite him, made sure he and Pyrrha's relationship would never be repaired. If that wasn't enough, Goodwitch had also learned of his and Cardin's fight within the forest, forcing the two to serve detention. And then…

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 _"Enter." Letting out a sigh, Jaune exited the elevator that led to the bottom of Beacon Tower. In front of him were Professor Goodwitch and Ozpin, the blonde narrowing her eyes at the sigh of him while Ozpin simply looked at him over the rim of his cup._

" _Is there something I can help you with, Headmaster?" Jaune said, his gut telling him that this wasn't just a simple check-in._

 _"Mr. Arc, I need you to take a seat." Ozpin said, getting Jaune to clench his jaw before he looked at the chair only avaliable._

" _If it's alright with you sir…I think it's best that I stand." Jaune said, doing his best to remain calm as the Headmaster nodded. For the next five minutes, no words were exchanged between the three, only the sound of gears grinding against one another was heard. "May I ask what this is about?" Jaune asked, breaking the silence. Seeing Ozpin close his eyes and exhale, the blonde felt his anxiety build up._

 _"Mr. Arc…it has come to our attention, through an anonymous source, that you've been harboring a secret. Do happen to know what it is?" Ozpin asked, catching Jaune's attention._

" _Hard to say sir, everyone is entitled to secrets, aren't they?" Jaune asked, getting Ozpin to nod his head in agreement._

" _Perhaps…however," Ozpin said, taking a sip from his mug before continuing. "this secret is potentially life threatening." Jaune clenched his jaw tighter as Ozpin took another sip and motioned towards Goodwitch. Without a word, the older blonde had laid a large scroll on Ozpin's desk before pushing it towards Jaune. Jaune didn't bother looking at the scroll, getting the blonde to narrow her eyes again. "It has come to our attention that you have submitted falsified transcripts. Do you deny this accusation?"_

" _No, sir." Jaune said, getting both the Headmaster and blonde professor to widen their eyes in surprise. "I had submitted fake transcripts to Beacon."_

" _I see…" Ozpin said, closing his before he let out a heavy sigh. "You do know this means that you will likely be expelled." The Headmaster said, getting Jaune to clench his fist before nodding. Silence had filled the room again, however, the grinding gears had mysteriously become muted to the three before Ozpin let out another sigh. "Mr. Arc, as of this moment…you are hereby expelled from Beacon. You have one week to gather your things and leave campus grounds."_

" _I understand sir." Jaune said, lowering his head as he headed back to the elevator. "Thank you…for letting me in though." Jaune said, giving the two a half-smile before the elevator doors closed._

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Things had ended there for the blonde and, before the day had even finished, news of his forged transcripts had spread quickly. The only good thing Jaune was thankful for was the fact that Ozpin had promised to keep his expulsion a secret from the rest of the school until he actually left. The only problem Jaune had to deal with were the rest of the first years practically abandoning him.

"It was bad enough that I couldn't walk around without being harassed…" Jaune said, sitting up and stretching. He did try to go walk around academy grounds, but that resulted in him being picked on and insulted. "…but not even my 'friends' wouldn't visit me." Jaune said running a hand through his hair.

He wasn't too surprised when practically every one of his friends had turned their backs on him. Yang and Weiss had threatened to send him to a hospital if he ever came near them or Ruby while Blake, Pyrrha and Ren had avoided him entirely. Surprisingly, students in their third or final year taken a shine to him, many offering a place for him to stay. At first Jaune had declined, but when Cardin had upped his bullying, he quickly took them up on their offers.

Of course, Goodwitch as caught on quickly and had moved Jaune to his own private dorm where he could stay for rest of the week. She had also informed him that he was no longer required to attend classes and was welcome to use the time to prepare for his departure. However, that didn't stop Port, Oobleck and even Professor Peach from visiting and giving the blonde a private lesson.

Oobleck's lessons had remained the same, focusing on history and past battles that shaped Remnant into what it was. Jaune, in turn, had told Oobleck a few stories about his family, mainly ones that were passed down through old tales, giving the professor a history lesson or two of his own.

Port's lessons were similar to his original class, giving Jaune some tips and pointers about certain Grimm. However, unlike in class, where the man liked to regale the students with stories of said Grimm, Jaune had gotten straight to the point weaknesses. The boastful professor had also decided to give Jaune a simple training regimen, one that could be tweaked to help him improve even after he left Beacon.

Peach's lessons actually consisted of Huntsman Laws and Regulations. Of course, while Jaune had gotten lost on a few concepts, and thought that they were kind of pointless, the professor had insisted that Jaune learn about them.

The three professors weren't Jaune's only visitors though, as Nora and Ruby had come by and ask for forgiveness. Jaune was quick forgive the two girls and let them visit his room until he left. That was almost taken away from him when Yang and Weiss had come by and tried to force Ruby to leave Jaune. The result was Ruby being pushed over the edge and fighting back, putting the two older girls in their place with words alone while Nora promised to properly introduce them to Magnhild.

The two had left him alone since.

'Well…It's not like I have anything better to do. I might as well so some exercises while I wait for someone else to come by,' thought Jaune as he got up from his bed and began to exercise. It was nothing strenuous, just some stretching and basic exercises. The blonde was only halfway done with his push-ups before a voice made him stop.

"Nice to see you training, fearless leader." the voice called out, making Jaune and look up to see Nora standing in his doorway. The smile that Jaune had on his face had quickly disappeared when he saw Nora enter his room and reveal Pyrrha behind her. Narrowing his eyes, Jaune immediately got to his feet and crossed his arms, his actions getting the redhead to frown a bit.

"What are _you_ doing here?" The blonde said, hoping his voice sounded cold. Whether it was or not, the blonde saw Pyrrha tense up before she let out a sigh and looked down.

"I came here to talk." The redhead said, getting Jaune to raise an eyebrow. "Mind if I-" Seeing Pyrrha take a step forward, Jaune decided to lay down a line.

"The door's as good a place as any." The blonde cut off, getting Pyrrha to stop and look at him. "I don't mind Nora coming in since she's been doing that for the last few days. Whatever you want to say, you can say it from there." If it were any time before their separation, Jaune would've felt bad for what he said. However, since he was technically no longer a student at Beacon, he couldn't bring himself to care about how he treated his former partner. "Well?" Jaune asked, getting annoyed that Pyrrha had yet to say anything else.

"I'm sorry…" The redhead said, getting Jaune to blink. "…I'm sorry that I haven't been there for you. You were in trouble, and I did nothing but step aside and let you sort everything out." Pyrrha said, letting out a quick sigh. "I should've been there to help you out with Cardin. I have no right to ask for forgiveness, but…I wanted talk to you."

"My, how touching." A second voice said, getting Pyrrha to jump before the redhead turned around and was greeted to a woman in a lab coat standing behind her with a large duffle bag. "It's good to keep relations between one another stable." The woman continued, lowering her glasses to look at the redhead. "But if you don't mind, I'd like to have a word with Mr. Arc…alone."

"Of course, Professor Peach." Pyrrha said before began to walk away, stopping to give Nora a questionable look. "Nora? Are you coming?"

"Can Nora stay?" Jaune said, getting everyone to look at her. "She's a good friend, and I want her to know what's happening." The woman took a second to look at Nora before she nodded, looking to Pyrrha and waiting for her to leave. The redhead had a look of betrayal on her face as she continued to walk out of the room.

"You alright?" The professor asked when she was sure that Pyrrha was gone.

"No serious injuries." Jaune joked, getting the woman to smirk before she fixed her glasses. "Is something wrong professor?"

"Nothing to drastic I assure you, Mr. Arc," the professor said, looking over her shoulder before looking back at Jaune, "However, Bartholomew, Peter and I have been talking. And we were wondering what you're going to do when you leave Beacon." At that, Jaune took in a deep breath before sitting back on his head.

"Honestly? I don't know." The blonde revealed. "I mean, the best I can think of is just…going back to my family and starting a life as a farmer." At that, Nora cast a worried look towards Jaune.

"Wait! What's going on?" The ginger asked, switching her attention between Jaune and Professor Peach.

"You haven't told anyone?" Professor Peach asked, getting Jaune to shake his head, "I see. Ms. Valkyrie," the woman said, getting Nora to look at her. "Due to circumstances surrounding Mr. Arc's transcripts, Professor Ozpin had decided that the best course of action was to expel Mr. Arc."

"What!?" Nora shouted, looking at Jaune to see him lower his head. "You're leaving!?" Seeing her worried face, Jaune only winced before nodding.

"…yeah." Was all Jaune said before Nora began to rant about how he couldn't just leave. Fortunately for Jaune, Professor Peach was there to rein in Nora and explained everything to her. Surprisingly, the hyperactive ginger had calmed down and listened to the professor's explanation. As soon as the professor had finished, Nora went silent before leaving the room, saying that she needed some time alone. The professor raised an eyebrow before sighing. Jaune would've joined her, but his attention was drawn to the object the professor had pulled out from her pocket, which was currently flying towards him. Reacting quickly, the blonde caught the object and looked at it see that it was a new scroll.

"What's this for?" The blonde asked, looking back at woman.

"A going away gift." The professor said, "I'll be honest with you Mr. Arc, Bartholomew, Peter and I do not agree with your expulsion. In fact, we believe that you have great potential, enough to overshadow your former classmates." Jaune couldn't help but blink at the professor's words. "If you take a minute to look at your progression, then you'll see that in just a few months, you've not only managed to keep up with students who have been studying for longer, but you've managed to become a team leader."

"Yeah, well…" Jaune said, rubbing the back of his head as his face began to heat up. "…it still doesn't change the fact that I did this all because I wanted to become a hero."

"That may be true, however, you should remember this: Those who lived a life as themselves are better than those who lived a life based on a lie." Professor Peach said, getting Jaune to lower his head. "It is true that you lied to get into Beacon, but at the very least, you did so wanting to be what you wanted. So, tell me…" The woman said, getting Jaune to look at her. "…would you have been the same if you didn't want to become a Hero?"

"No, I guess not." Jaune said after a minute of thinking it over. Giving the woman a smile, Jaune's attention was focused on the duffel bag that still on the professor's shoulder. "By the way, what's with the duffel bag? Is Professor Port going to capture more Grimm?"

"I hope not." The Professor said as she shifted the bag into her arms, "These are just some more gifts from you." Peach said, casually tossing the bag onto Jaune's bed. "If you still want to pursue being a hero, then I suggest that you head to a shop called 'Lady Fyre's' after you get into Vale. The owner is a good friend of mine and I called to let her know that you'll be dropping by." Jaune took a second to look at the duffel bag before focusing on the scroll in his hands. "And before you leave Mr. Arc, I suggest that you leave a message to your friends."

Jaune simply gave the woman a nod before she turned around and walked away, closing the door in the process. Jaune stayed where he was for a few more minutes before letting out a sigh, the pieces of a puzzle, hidden over the past three days, finally falling into place.

"Looks like I should get ready." Jaune said, pulling out his scroll and switching his attention to the new one he had received and the one he was currently using.

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Jaune sighed as he looked around the halls of Beacon and the school grounds of the campus from his window. He didn't get a visit from anyone else aside from Port and Oobleck, the two of handing Jaune something they though would help before reminding him that he has their numbers.

Looking at the clock and seeing it nearing ten, Jaune began to switch out his old clothes, replacing his old Pumpkin Pete Hoodie with a plain black one that had on a few plates of armor. After getting it on, Jaune took a look in the mirror and smiled when he realized that the plates of armor made it look like he was still wearing his old one. Nodding at the change, the blonde switched out his jeans with a pair of black military pants as well as switching his converse shoes with combat boots.

As the blonde finished changing his clothes, he took a second to look at his bed, where Crocea Mors and his armor were currently resting. Feeling a set of tears building up, Jaune took a second to rub his eyes before he pulled out his old scroll and toss it onto the bed next to the weapon and armor. Giving himself a quick look over, the blonde nodded to his reflection before he pulled up his hood and grabbed his duffel bag before making his way to the door.

Without wasting time, the blonde entered the hallway and immediately headed straight for the airships, the last one leaving in a few minutes. As the blonde made his way through the halls of Beacon, he couldn't help but notice the lack of students. Despite being an academy, there was no actual curfew and students were forced to rely on themselves or their team for everything aside from lessons.

Once the blonde had made it through the doors, he took a second to look around, feeling a wave of nausea wash over him when he saw the empty school grounds. Shaking his head, Jaune continued on, his destination being the small glow across the large avenue. As the blonde closed in on the large statue, the sound of footsteps running towards him made him stop and look back just in time to get knocked over. As the blonde tried to gather his thoughts and figure out what happened, a voice made him tense up.

"Jaune?" Looking down, Jaune was greeted to a pair of amber eyes looking at him. What made Jaune curious was the fact that Blake looked like she was on the verge of crying. Without thinking Jaune looked around for the rest of the girl's team before he helped her up and led her to the airships, buying the two of them a ticket before boarding. As the airship began leaving the docks of Beacon, Jaune decided to speak up.

"I'm guessing you and your team got into a fight?" The blonde asked, looking away when Blake turned to him.

"Yeah…something like that…" Blake said, getting Jaune to nod before he looked out the window. As he saw the lights of Beacon grow further and further away, the blonde couldn't help but let a few tears fall before a single thought passed through his mind.

'Now what?'

* * *

And thus, the story kicks off. This beginning chapter is relatively the same as the first time but has a few changes to it. The direction of the story is the same, but I made a few tweaks to, hopefully, make it better. I do understand that Jaune did go a little OOC near the end, but I felt that was the best way for me to write him as.

I hope you enjoy and until next time, see ya!


	2. Chapter 2

Hello! I'm back with another chapter!

* * *

To Better (K)nights

The ride to Vale was silent as Jaune and Blake sat beside one another, the blonde taking measured breaths while Blake simply stared at the ground in front of them. There wasn't much that could be said between the two aside from the information Blake had revealed to Jaune just after the airship had left Beacon.

"Let me get this straight." Jaune finally said, getting Blake to perk up a bit when she heard his slightly muffled voice. "You..." The blonde started, pointing at the Faunus, "...used to be a member of the White Fang." The cat Faunus nodded at that while Jaune took another breath. "And Weiss...she found out after you two got into an argument over the White Fang?"

"You make it sound like it's an everyday thing." Blake said, getting Jaune to shrug.

"Living a life like mine tends to numb you to surprises…barring Nora. What I don't see, is why you thought that running away was the best option." Jaune said, getting Blake to flinch.

"I didn't trust myself to be around Weiss." Blake said, getting Jaune to raise an eyebrow. "If we could already get into argument before she knew I was a Faunus, let alone knowing that I was part of the White Fang, then just imagine if I stayed." The Faunus said, lowered her head.

"I'm pretty sure if you explained yourself, then everything would've likely settled down." Jaune said, getting Blake to scoff.

"I don't think things would be that easy to solve." The Faunus said, getting Jaune to let out a chuckle.

"Look, I know I'm not the best fighter..." Jaune said, getting Blake to look at him, "...in fact I'm bad enough that I faked my way into Beacon, but do I have seven sisters." At that, Blake widened her eyes. "And, thanks to them, I know a few things about fixing friendships." The blonde said.

"And explaining why I was a part of the White Fang is part of it?" Blake asked, the skepticism clear in her voice.

"Would you prefer that I think you're a terrorist, former or not, or someone wanting to fix their mistakes?" Jaune asked, getting no response. "Giving yourself some context will at least paint a picture. For instance, did you know that everyone else in my family had faked _at least_ three things about themselves in order to get ahead in life?" At that, Blake turned her attention to Jaune again. "Or the fact that my family actually used to _support_ the White Fang until it turned militaristic?" Now Blake's attention was only on Jaune. "Yeah, it's like they say: 'Don't judge a book by its cover'."

"So, I should've just explained myself to Weiss?"

"It would've made things a lot less complicated than running away." The blonde responded. "I get that Weiss' thing is to be cold and emotionless, but even I could see that she was someone willing to listen." Jaune said before he looked at Blake and smiled. "Just imagine how different it would turn out if you just told Weiss why you _were_ in White Fang and left because of how it changed."

"And if she doesn't want to listen?" Blake asked, getting Jaune to shrug.

"Well, you'd still have Ruby and Yang." Was Jaune's only answer. Before Blake continue the conversation, the feeling of the Bullhead jerking to a stop made Jaune get up. "Anyway, that's just my opinion. If you don't feel like returning to Beacon, well I can't exactly force you to go back." The blonde said before he stumbled his way off the Bullhead. Blake took a moment to thing about the blonde's words before she got up and began to follow him.

"Jaune, wait." Blake called out, rushing down the ramp to see Jaune hanging his head over the trashcan. Without missing a beat, Blake placed her hand on Jaune's back and began to pat it gently. Once Jaune was done, the blonde rubbed his mouth before thanking Blake.

"So, what's on your mind?" Jaune asked when he felt his body settle down. "With everything you told me, I figured that you would've left as soon as we reached Vale." The blonde said, adjusting his bag before pulling out his scroll.

"I realized that I never asked why you came to Vale." Blake said, focusing on Jaune when she saw that he stiffened up.

"Just going to spend some time with a…friend." Jaune said, taking a second to think before he finished his sentence. 'I almost forgot, Ozpin said my expulsion wouldn't be revealed until next week. And I can only hope that Nora doesn't tell anyone.'

"A friend?" Blake asked skeptically, getting Jaune to nod as they continued down the street.

"Yep. Met them a few days ago and they invited me to stay over." The blonde said, focusing on his scroll. Despite not looking at her, Jaune could feel Blake staring at him, and he let her know by letting out a sigh. "Do you want to come along?"

"Sure. I didn't really think this through, so I don't have a place to sleep." Blake said, grinning a bit when Jaune let out a defeated groan.

•..•Lady Fyre's•..•

"Are you sure this is the place?" Blake asked, giving the building in front of her a skeptical look. It was clearly a gun shop, one that had the sleeping arrangements on the upper floors while the actual store was on the base. It didn't look any different from the surrounding stores, having bared windows with a fully wooden door. It wasn't completely dark since the store had the words 'Lady Fyre's' illuminated in neon lights.

"This is the address I was given." Jaune said, casting a quick look at Blake before he knocked on the store's door. After a minute or two, the door opened to reveal a pair of green eyes that stood out against the dark background.

"We're closed." The woman said sharply, getting Jaune to jump a bit before he put his hand in front of him.

"Lady Fyre?" Jaune asked before he jabbed a thumb at his chest. "My name is Jaune…a-and I was told to come see you." The blonde said, smiling nervously as the woman's eyes narrowed.

"So, you're the one Peach talked about." The woman said before the door closed and the sound of various locks being undone was heard. Before Jaune could cast another look at Blake, the door was opened wide before a fox Faunus, dressed in childish pajamas, stepped out. "And who are you?" The woman asked, getting Jaune to look at Blake.

"My name is Blake Belladonna." Blake said, taking a step towards Jaune. "I…had an argument with my teammates and don't have a place to stay for the night. I was hoping that I could join Jaune." Blake said, getting the Faunus to let out a snort before she motioned to the door.

"Alright, get in." The Faunus said, looking around as Jaune and Blake entered the building. After locking the doors again, the Faunus lead the two up a set of stairs before opening another door and motioning for them to get in. "Look, I don't have much when it comes sleeping arrangements so here…" The Faunus said, tossing a sleeping bag to Jaune. "…I've only got the one, so you're going to either have to share or go cold."

"Uh…" Was the only Jaune and Blake could say before the Faunus let out a yawn.

"While I let you two figure that out, I'm going to hit the hay. We'll talk first thing in the morning." As Jaune and Blake stared at the single sleeping bag, the Faunus walked away.

•..•The Next Morning•..•

"Well, you two certainly look rested." The Faunus said when she saw Jaune and Blake enter. The blonde looked like he had lost a fight, having messy hair and slightly wrinkled clothes, while Blake sported a slight redness to her cheeks. The two tossed a quick glance towards the Faunus before they took a seat, the smell of bacon making them take in a deep breath. "How about you have some breakfast while we talk?" Jaune gave the Faunus a nod before he was handed a plate.

"Thank you, Lady-"

"Pyre." The Faunus cut-off, "Pyre Fyre."

"Thank you, Pyre." Jaune said, getting a nod before he served himself. Once Jaune took his fist bite, Pyre let out a light cough.

"So, Peach told me what happened." The Faunus said, getting Jaune to look down a bit while Blake raised an eyebrow. "I've gotta say, that's a shitty turn of events. But it seems Peach decided to cash in a favor and asked me to set you up." Pyre said before she motioned to Jaune's plate. "Finish eating and come downstairs." The blonde simply gave a nod before he and Blake watched Pyre leave the room.

"Something happen at Beacon?" Blake asked, turning to Jaune to see him focusing on his plate. "Jaune?"

"Nothing. Well, nothing you need to be worried about. A slight personal problem." Jaune said before he finished up his plate and stood up. "I'm going to talk with Pyre, alright?" Before Blake could give an answer, Jaune was already out the room.

•..••..•

"Well, that was a quick breakfast." Pyre said as soon she saw Jaune step through the door.

"I wasn't that hungry." Jaune said, getting a shrug in return. "But listen, can I ask you something?" Getting Pyre to raise an eyebrow, one of her ears perking while the other flattened out. "Blake and her friends…they don't know that I was expelled, and I told Blake that you were a new friend I just met." The blonde explained. "Do we you think we can keep things between us, the only people who know are the staff members at Beacon one of my teammates."

"Ah…" Pyre said, both her ears raising up, "…not the most supportive people, huh? Well, I can't make promises that are easy to break but I'll try." Hearing that, Jaune let out a sigh of relief and let his body sag a bit.

"Thank you." The blonde said before he looked around the shop. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Peach told me everything and judging from how you came here last night with only a girl and a duffle bag…" At that, Jaune blushed a bit, "…I'm going to go out on a limb and say you don't have a weapon anymore."

"You could say that." Jaune replied with a shrug. "It was a family heirloom but…" Jaune said, stopping when Pyre held up her hand.

"No need to explain that." The Faunus said before she ducked behind the counter and grabbed a weapon case. "Here, this is custom made and should go along with that armor nicely." Jaune watched as the Faunus opened the case and turned it around. When the blonde looked inside, he was surprise to see a handgun inside.

"A handgun?" Jaune asked, reaching for a firearm and looking at it carefully while Pyre smiled.

"This baby took a lot of effort to work on." The Faunus said as she held out her hand and took the handgun from Jaune. "It was a lot of work but damn worth it. This thing was modified to fire point-forty caliber bullets and features a longer barrel and compensator for increased accuracy and stability. It has a magazine capacity of at least 15 rounds, has fixed sights and dotted posts and can produce at least a two-inch grouping within twenty-five yards, with no variation after three thousand rounds. It's also capable of double-action fire or three-round bursts, can be fired in either hand and won't exceed 35 ounces when not loaded." The Faunus said proudly.

Jaune blinked at the gun in his hand, taking its design. The wraparound grip panels were enlarged and extended below the magazine foot and consisted of wood with synthetic recoil-absorbing inserts on the side panels and backstrap. Looking at more closely, Jaune saw the modifications included a heavier Brigadier slide, target sights, an extended slide catch, and a stainless-steel barrel.

'Thank you for the weapon lessons Ruby.' Jaune thought as he tested the weight of the handgun. 'It's funny that I can't remember what we learned about from Oobleck's class, but I can remember the modifications lessons from a fifteen-year old girl.'

"And, so you don't get bored using the same old, same old…" Pyre said, getting Jaune to look up and see her opening another case that had different loaded magazines. "…you can load it with Dust-based rounds. Pretty damn useful when you can fire shards of rock and ice for extra penetration or electric rounds for subduing someone."

"Wow…" Was all Jaune could say as Pyre handed the handgun back to Jaune.

"You know, I'm surprised that you understood most of that." The Faunus said, getting Jaune to look up. "Most of the time, unless you're a gun collector, I'd have go over everything in depth. But I could tell that you understood almost everything."

"Well, I had friend at Beacon that would obsess over weapons." Jaune said before he put the gun back and frowned a bit. "But…" The blonde started, getting Pyre to raise an eyebrow. "…I've never fired a gun before. What makes you think I could just use one without training?"

"Because Peach's semblance never lies." Hearing that, Jaune turned his attention to Pyre again. "Peach's semblance isn't something that's useful in battle so much as it is before one." The Faunus said, leaning on the counter. "Peach is able to see one's potential, both overall and in a fight."

"How?" Jaune asked, getting Pyre to shrug lightly.

"I'm can't exactly explain it, but Peach can basically look at someone and tell how much of a threat they'll become within a certain period of time. If she looks at someone just before a fight, she could easily pick out the more dangerous ones. It's the reason why Ozpin hired her to work at Beacon, she could easily assess the new students and report back to him." Jaune widened his eyes at that. "But I'm guessing that she took one look at you and saw the next 'King of Vale'."

"So…what now?" Jaune asked before he motioned to the gun case. "You going to give me a crash course on firing guns?"

"Something like that." Pyre said, getting a sinister grin on her face that made Jaune gulp.

•..•Firing Range•..•

"Remember, you've got to keep an eye on your surroundings!" Pyre shouted out when she saw Jaune fall to one knee. "Tunnel vision like that is what gets people killed."

"Are you sure this is the best way to do this?" Jaune shouted back, raising his new pistol and firing a few rounds to take out the target. Getting back to his feet, Jaune immediately dived to the side, firing off a few rounds as he did so.

"You're learning how to fire under pressure aren't you?" Pyre shouted back, "Besides, it looks like Peach was right! You have a set of eagle eyes on you." Before Jaune could answer back, the sound of a buzzer went off, causing the remaining targets to fall to the ground. "Alright, take a second to rest up." Hearing that, Jaune crumpled to his knees with a groan. "I've got to say, despite never firing a real gun, you have got a steady hand."

"Thanks…" Jaune groaned out as Pyre walked past him and looked over the targets around him.

"I'm surprised you didn't already have a firearm with you." Pyre added, getting Jaune to look up and see the Faunus walking up to him before crouching down. "With how easy it was for you to get settled with one, it's hard to believe you don't have a gun of your own."

"Like I said, I never fired a gun before. The only thing I've used that could be considered a ranged weapon was tossing rocks." Jaune said before he was helped to his feet.

"Well, the good news is you passed my little test." Pyre said, walking up to the two, "A few missed shots and a few hits taken but your Aura managed to cover your back. Keep entering scenarios like this and you'll have the reflexes of a Huntsmen in no time." The Faunus said, getting Jaune to raise an eyebrow. "Let me put it this way, you…who had no real experience like this before…" Pyre started, pointing to Jaune before motioning to the firing range around them. "…managed to pull off something that would take others years of mistakes."

"And the bad news?" Jaune asked, getting the Faunus to raise an eyebrow. "C'mon, there's usually something bad that I did that counters this; something that won't make me overconfident."

"Well, while you do have a set of eagle eyes, you did get some tunnel vision near the end." Pyre said with a shrug. "You want some criticism? Learn to be more aware of your surroundings. I won't say you're a crack shot, but all you really need to do at this point is keep practicing."

"That's…good, I guess?" Jaune said, only getting a shrug in return.

"Anyway, you're practically set." Pyre said as she began to walk away. "All you need a main weapon and something to cover close quarter fights." This got Jaune to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"I thought the pistol was my weapon?" The blonde asked, leaning forward to look at the fox Faunus when she shook her head.

"It could be, if you ever practiced hand-to-hand fighting." Pyre said, getting Jaune to open his mouth before closing it. "Thought so." The Faunus said before she motioned Jaune to follow her. "The pistol could be all you need, but sometimes it's best to have a primary weapon. An assault rifle, a shotgun, or hell, even a new sword…anything really."

"So why can't I use my pistol for close range encounters?" Jaune asked, already knowing the answer.

"How quickly can you fight off a shot?" Pyre asked, looking back towards Jaune. "My point here is that a pistol is more for catching an opponent's mistakes than forcing them to make one. Using something like rifle or sword can give you a longer reach and a chance to fight back." The Faunus said. As the two left the firing range, they were greeted by Blake, who had discarded her bow for the time being.

"You're still here?" Jaune asked, wincing when Blake narrowed her eyes immediately.

"I didn't know you wanted me gone." Blake said emotionlessly, getting Jaune to wince harder before held up his hand.

"That's not what I meant." The blonde said, "I was just thought that you would've left to do something else."

"I wanted to talk with you about something." Blake answered, getting Jaune blink before Pyre smirked again.

"Don't mind me, I'll let you have some alone time with your girl." The Faunus said before walking off. Jaune didn't have time to respond to Pyre before Blake grabbed his arm and led him out of the shop.

"Uh, Blake?"

•..•Random Teashop•..•

"Let me see if I understood your request." Jaune said, motioning between him and Blake. "You, want me to help you…"

"…prove that the White Fang are not the ones who are behind these robberies." Blake finished before she took a sip of her tea. Hearing Jaune let out a conflicted sigh, Blake closed her eyes and put her cup down. "Jaune, at this point, you're the only one I can turn to for help. I know how they operate, and I know that they would never stoop low enough to resort to Dust robbing."

"You also told me that things were different back then." Jaune countered, "I know it's not what you want to hear, but things do change Blake. Sometimes for the better, other times for the worst. And besides," Jaune said before he leaned back and motioned to himself. "What exactly can I provide you aside from being a distraction." Seeing Blake's ears flatten against her head, Jaune took a second to run a hand through his hair before blowing out some air. "Look, I don't want to say this, but-" Jaune before someone decided to land next to them.

"-where do we start?" Both Jaune and Blake jumped and looked to the owner of the new voice. What greeted them was a monkey Faunus, who was currently balancing himself on the railing, a banana in his hand as he looked between the two. "Well?"

"Uh…who are you?" Jaune asked before he looked at Blake, hoping that she would give him an answer. Unfortunately for the blonde, Blake simply shrugged in response.

"The name's Sun. Sun Wukong." The Faunus said, tossing the banana peel over his shoulder before hoping off the rail and landing next to Blake. "So, what's the plan?"

"Well," Blake said, ignoring Jaune's look of betrayal. "We're going to need to figure out where the next robbery is going to be taking place." As soon as Blake said that, Jaune to let out a sigh while Sun took up a thinking pose.

"I might know where that is." Sun said, getting Jaune to frown when he saw Blake's ears perk up.

* * *

And there we have it, another chapter for the month. I know this kind of went by fast, but I wanted to get this part of the story out of the way so I can get Jaune out into the world. And for those wondering, yes I will give a quick overview of how everyone will take Jaune's expulsion.

Also, since I was practically asleep when I posted the first chapter, I didn't really notice that I put this story as a [Jaune/OC] story when in reality I meant to make this a [Jaune/Ilia] story. And to be honest, since I uploaded the story on the computer and both 'Ilia' and 'OC' are the first in their letter category, as well as 'O' and 'I' being next to one another on a keyboard, you can forgive for not seeing it when I clicked 'Publish'.

And to anyone wondering about Jaune's new weapons, that's mostly going to be a secret. Also, the handgun I described was Barry Burton's from the Resident Evil series, mainly because I had a replica of it in my room and thought that I would be a good choice for Jaune.

Also, I do have a P-atreon. If you feel like supporting me, head on over. I don't really have much now, but give me some time and I'll come up with something. Plus I don't charge more than five bucks...so that's something.

 _P.S. To the person who PM'd me and said that I was_ _ **'A sack of shit for not making this Knightshade.'**_ _, there are plenty of Knightshade stories out there. Don't think you can force me to change a story because you don't like it._


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, so I was feeling a bit generous, mainly because it's February, the month of Valentine's Day, so I decided to post another chapter for you guys.

* * *

To Better (K)nights

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Vale Shipyard¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

"Why are we here?" Blake asked as she, Jaune and Sun stopped at the entrance of the Vale's Shipyard. After learning about shipment of Dust that had come in, the blonde decided to lead the two Faunus towards the shipyard.

"If we know where the robbers are going strike next, then we should at least scout out the place." Jaune said, stopping to look back at the two Faunus. "Now, let me do the talking." The blonde said before he walked up to a small office window and knocked on it. "Excuse me," Jaune said, getting the security guard to look up from his paper. "We're here to inspect the shipyard." The blonde said, motioning to him, Blake and Sun.

"No one's allowed in without a pass." The security guard said before he focused back on his paper.

"Sir, we believe that someone is coming to steal the Dust." Blake said, getting Jaune to sag his shoulders and sigh. "If you just let us look-"

"No. One's. Allowed. Without. A. Pass." The security guard repeated, pausing after every word, before he fixed his paper again. Blake looked back at the two blondes following her and saw Jaune shake his head while Sun shrugged.

"Can't say we tried." Sun said, getting Blake to hang her head before she walked off. Unfortunately, she didn't get more than five steps before she heard the sound of glass breaking.

"Hey!" Looking back, Blake widened her eyes to see Jaune's fist on the window, a large crack spreading from it. "We need to get in there!" The blonde said, his face changing to a more serious one.

"W-who are you?" The security guard asked, the fear clear in his voice as he backed away from the window, his paper a forgotten mess on the floor.

"You can call me Arcane," The blonde said, removing his hand from the window before motioning to Blake and Sun. "We're here to check up on a shipment of Dust and make sure it's still here. With all the recent Dust robberies, we want to make sure nothing's going to happen and, if possible, set up a watch post for tonight."

"Under who's orders." The security guard asked, his recent fear being replaced with authority.

"Weiss Schnee." Was all Jaune said to make the man pale. As if to prove his point, Jaune pulled out his scroll and showed a picture of him with Team RWBY, Weiss and him standing near one another. "Now, are you going to let us in? Or are we going to have to take this up with management?" Jaune said, pulling back the scroll before showing to the window and revealing Weiss' number.

"L-let me get the gate." The security guard said, moving to the controls before the gate began to open. Without a word, Jaune motioned for the two Faunus to follow him. Once the trio were far enough, Jaune let out a sigh of relief before letting his body relax.

"Nice cover up there." Sun said, patting Jaune on the back while Blake stepped in front of him.

"How'd you do that?" The Faunus asked, getting a weak chuckle from Jaune.

"If I can lie my way into Beacon, then getting past a security guard on duty is not that hard." Jaune said, before he began to walk around the shipyard, stopping now and then to inspect one. Testing the doors, yanking on the lock lightly and knocking on the side before nodding his head and moving on.

"What are you doing?" Sun asked, getting Jaune to look at him in confusion.

"Checking the shipments." Jaune said, his voice making sound like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "That's why we're here, right? We're supposed to check these containers and then set up a watch post." As if to catch his point, Blake nodded before she began to walk away.

"I'll find a place for us to set up a watch post tonight." The Faunus said, stopping to point to Sun. "Why don't you and Jaune finish checking the shipments?" Before Sun could answer back, Blake was already around the corner.

"Well, I guess we're stuck togeth-" Sun stopped talking when turned to Jaune saw the blonde was further away than before. "Hey! Wait up!"

"We've got to keep up appearances." Jaune said when he saw Sun running towards him. Seeing the monkey Faunus nod, Jaune gave him a playful smirk. "But I guess acting like a new recruit works." At that, Sun's head shot up to see Jaune inspecting another container. Ignoring Jaune's comment, Sun joined the blonde, moving to a nearby container and repeating Jaune's actions before moving on to another.

"What make you think they'll come here?" Sun asked. "I mean, what if they wait until the shipments go out and strike then?"

"Would you wait to steal a plate of cookies when there's an entire jar's worth?" Jaune asked, getting Sun to raise an eyebrow. "The point is, the benefits outweigh the risk. Just one of these containers could be enoughfor them. Why wait for these containers to leave when they're just sitting here, waiting to be taken?"

"Good point." Sun said, looking over another container before speaking up again. "So…" The Faunus said, getting Jaune to stop and look at him, "Is Blake always serious like this?"

"I couldn't tell you." Jaune said, shrugging as he walked past Sun and looked at another container. "We've never really talked that much before now. I know she likes to read books, but the only ones who know more about her would be her teammates. She's a good fighter though, from what I've seen during combat class." Jaune said, getting Sun to nod. "Why? Interested?"

"What? No! C'mon man!" Sun said, jumping from Jaune before shaking his head. "She just seemed, you know…lonely is all." The Faunus said, getting Jaune to stop before looking around. Instead of pushing the issue, Jaune just nodded before he continued his inspection.

"Well, she looks like she gets along well with her team." Jaune said before he remembered her fight with Weiss, "Most of the time, anyway." Before the two blondes could continue their conversation, Blake dropped down, landing next to Jaune and getting him yelp to stumble back.

"I found a spot." Blake said blankly, looking down at Jaune to see him wince.

"How much of that conversation did you hear?" The blonde asked.

"Enough." Was all Blake said before she turned around and motioned for Jaune and Sun to follow. Even though she had her back to them, Blake could tell the two blondes winced to her response.

"Right…" Were the blonde's only response before she heard two sets of feet following her.

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

"Here," Blake said, stopping on the roof of a nearby storage building before motioning to the packed shipyard.

"Nice spot," Jaune said before he took a few steps around the roof, "You can see the main gate and docks from here." The blonde said, "So, if there's a chance they're taking a boat or some sort of vehicle we'll see it."

"Seriously?" Sun asked, getting Jaune to look at him. "Dude, no offense, but do you see how many containers there are?" The Faunus said, getting Jaune to look at the shipyard again. " _I_ can barely see anything."

"They're already sending out some of the containers." Jaune said, nudging his head to the side where a few workers were already loading a container onto a few trucks. Without a word, Jaune looked back to Sun and saw him nodding in defeat.

"There's a chance they might be hiding in one of the containers." Blake said, getting Jaune to look at her.

"Maybe…" Jaune said before he looked over the shipping yard. "At this point, I think all we have to do is wait for nighttime." As soon as Jaune finished saying that, he immediately made his way towards the ladder. Blake widened her eye and that and stepped in his way, a look of disbelief in her eyes. "Relax, I'm just heading back to Pyre's to grab my things. I'm not exactly ready for a fight." Gently pushing Blake aside, Jaune disappeared over the edge of the roof, leaving the two Faunus alone.

"I'll just…" Sun said, getting Blake to look at him. "…I'm gonna get some snacks." The Faunus said before he leaped off the roof.

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Lady Fyre's¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

"Welcome back." Pyre said when she saw Jaune step into her shop again. "You and your girl have a nice talk?" the Faunus asked, wiggling her eyebrows while Jaune blushed a bit.

"She's not my girlfriend." The blonde said after he got his blush under control. "And I'm just here to grab some of my things." Pyre simply nodded before she went back to working on her project.

"So…busy night?" The Faunus asked as Jaune walked passed her.

"Huh?" Was the blonde's response.

"You going to have a busy night?" The Faunus asked, getting Jaune to look around the shop. "Kid, the fact that you came back only to grab your gear says it all." Jaune blushed at the answer before he shook his head. "So, you going to let me in on your plans?"

"I know this might sound stupid, but…have you heard of the White Fang?" Jaune asked.

"That organization of Faunus that 'promote peace'." Pyre asked, getting a nod from Jaune. "Who hasn't? I mean, those guys are giving Faunus a bad name. And for what? Because they think we're better than humans?" The Faunus started before she coughed in her hand "What about them."

"Well, Blake, the girl that was with me, was a part of them." Jaune said, getting Pyre to shrug. "Well, she attends Beacon and one of her teammates is Weiss Schnee." That got Pyre's attention. "Yesterday, Weiss and Blake got in a fight when Weiss accused the White Fang of the recent Dust robberies."

"So, I'm guessing that she wants to prove that the White Fang are not the ones behind the robberies." Pyre asked, getting Jaune to nod. "And you decided to help her out." Pyre said, getting Jaune to nod again.

"Not willingly at first...but my family used to support the White Fang before they started to turn more violent." Jaune said, "It's kinda funny that a former supporter of the White Fang is actually helping a former member." The blonde said, getting Pyre to smile.

"Well, aside from pointing out the obvious." Pyre started, "I guess all I can say is take care of yourself. What you're doing is very dangerous and, unlike your girl, you're not protected by Beacon." Pyre said, "For all intents and purposes, you will be considered a mercenary by the authority."

"I will, and don't worry, I'll do my best to keep me and Blake out of trouble." Jaune said before he left the store. As soon he was out of sight, Pyre let out a sigh before she got up from her seat.

"I guess I better finish the kid's other weapon." Pyre said before she began to walk entrance to the shop and turned the 'Open' sign to 'Closed'. "Something tells me he's going to need it sooner rather than later."

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Shipyard (2 Days Later)¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

"Geeeezee…" Sun said as he, Blake and Jaune continued to look over the shipyard. "It's two days since we've started this." The Faunus said, getting the others to groan and nod. "Are we sure they're going to come?"

"Until those _all_ the containers are gone, we're going to have to stay." Hearing that, Blake let out a groan of her own while Jaune let out a sigh. "Look on the bright side; most of the crates are gone anyway and there haven't been any reported robberies since we've started. That means the robbers either stopped or…" The blonde said, getting the other two Faunus to look at him. "…they're coming here."

"I still can't believe the security guards just left." Blake said, getting Jaune to nod.

"I'm guess that since we're here, they felt like they could leave it to us." The blonde explained, getting Sun to raise an eyebrow, "I mean, I _did_ say we were here on Weiss' orders. That put some responsibility on our shoulders, whether we like it or not."

"But it's so boring." Sun groaned out, getting Blake to let out a frustrated sigh.

"If you want to leave, no one's going to stop you." The Faunus said, getting the two blondes to wince.

"Easy Blake." Jaune said, getting the Faunus to snap her attention to him. To her surprise, Jaune didn't flinch and stared back at her with a stern face. "I get that the White Fang are a part of your past, but that doesn't mean you can push away anyone who doesn't care about them as much." Jaune's words and stern tone made Blake flinch in response. "Sun, if you don't want to be here, then that's fine with us. Blake is right, neither of us are making you stay."

"Look, I didn't mean it like that." The Faunus said, taking a step towards the two. "I'm just not the kind of guy that likes to stay in one spot for too long. I didn't mean to sound like I don't care." Jaune nodded at that before he looked at the two Faunus.

"I get that, and I can agree that this is boring." Jaune said, holding up a hand to silence Blake. "But, this is important and if we don't do something, who will?" The blonde asked before he focused on Blake and spoke in a softer tone. "Blake, I know this is serious business, but you shouldn't be taking it too far." The blonde said, "What we're doing is dangerous and could easily get us killed." Jaune let a moment of silence pass before he spoke up again. "The last thing I want to have someone's death hanging over me because their common sense was lost." The blonde said, frowning when Blake flinched.

"When you put it like that…" Sun said before giving a weak chuckle. Jaune didn't respond and simply turned around to watch the shipyard again. As soon as he did, the sound of turbines made the three teens drop to their stomachs as a Bullhead flew over them. "…I guess you were right." Sun finished, getting a 'shh' from Jaune as they watched the Bullhead land in the shipyard and open.

"Oh no…" Hearing Blake say that, made Jaune feel a bit sad.

"Is that them?"

"Yeah…it is." Jaune said as he watched more White Fang members leave the Bullhead. Taking a quick look at Blake, Jaune placed a hand on her shoulder before speaking up again. "I know it hurts knowing, but we shouldn't let that distract us from stopping them."

"Hey! what's the hold up?"

Hearing that, the three looked to the landing to see the White Fang members stop and look back at the Bullhead before a man in a white jacket step out.

"Is that Roman Torchwick?" Jaune asked, his attention going to Blake when he saw her stand up and unsheathe her weapon. Before Blake could jump off the rooftop, Jaune yanked her back and made her crouch down. "What are you doing?" The blonde asked.

"This isn't right!" The Faunus said before she pointed to the Bullhead. "The White Fang would never work with a human! Especially one like him!"

"That doesn't mean you should go charging in!" Jaune said, his stern voice coming back. "At _best_ , it could get you caught and put me and Sun at a disadvantage!"

"I am not a child!" Blake hissed, ripping her hand from Jaune's. Before she could take a step, the blonde grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back.

"Maybe not but you're sure as hell acting like one!" Jaune countered, shoving Blake towards Sun. "That is known criminal surrounded by armed men! What are your chances of getting out alive?" The blonde continued, pointing to the shipyard.

"So, we're just going to let them go?" Blake asked, flinching when Jaune glared in a manner that reminded her of Goodwitch.

"A plan can go a long way." Jaune said before he looked at the shipyard again. "And no. We are not going to let them get away." As Jaune said that, he grabbed the Faunus and pull them down as two more Bullheads flew overhead. Moving closer to the edge, Jaune looked down and raised an eyebrow when he saw a lone White Fang member currently relieving himself against the wall.

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

"You realize how stupid this looks?" Sun asked while he did his best to hide the body of the guard as Blake adjusted the mask Jaune had on.

"Relax, as long as I don't do anything suspicious, you and Blake can cover the rest." Jaune said, giving the cat Faunus a thumbs up when she stepped away. "Just cause a big enough distraction that it starts to separate them. Then do your best to take out much as you can, that should give us an advantage."

"You sure this will work?" Blake asked as she watched Sun head to the roofs while Jaune looked over the rifle he took from the White Fang member.

"I don't know but, it'll probably help if you two can get things done quickly." Jaune said before he stepped out from behind the crates. As soon as he did, another White Fang member walked around the containers.

"You! Where have you been?" The Faunus asked, getting Jaune to swallow a lump in his throat.

"I was uh-" Jaune said before coughing into his hand. "I was scouting out the place. You never know if there are going to be any loose ends." The blonde said, doing his best to look relaxed despite sweating up a storm.

"Don't lie to me." The Faunus said before covering his nose. "I told you, if you needed to go, you should've done it before we got here." The Faunus said before she turned around and began to walk away. "C'mon, the others need your help."

"Right…" Jaune said, taking a second to look back and see Blake and Sun moving across the rooftops. "…so, know why we need this Dust?" Jaune asked, getting the Faunus in front of him to let out a snort.

"The White Fang need this Dust for another operation. Adam told us to listen to the _human_ if we want to accomplish this." The Faunus said, their disgust of Torchwick clear as day.

"Right, so why do _we_ need it?" Jaune asked, putting an emphasis on 'we'. This got the Faunus in front of him to stop and look back. "I don't' like working with humans, but you have to wonder why your- _our_ brothers and sister need this Dust." Jaune continued. "If this is about getting back at the humans, wouldn't it be better to blow this Dust up?"

"Taking the Dust is just as effective as destroying it." The Faunus answered back. "If you want to question orders, then take it up with the human." The Faunus said before leaving Jaune behind.

"You there! Get over here and help us!" The blonde let out a sigh before he turned to his left and saw a few Faunus hooking a few cables onto a container.

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯With Blake and Sun¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

"So, how are we going to do this?" Sun asked as he and Blake reached the other end of the shipyard.

"Jaune said that all we needed to do is create a distraction." Blake said, "Do you have any-" Before Blake could finish her question, she covered her cat ears when Sun had pulled out his weapon and fired off a shot. When the ringing stopped, Blake took the time to glare at the Faunus.

"What? That should get their attention, right?" The Faunus asked.

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯With Jaune¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

Jaune, along with everyone else, jumped and readied their weapons when they heard the sound of a gun going off.

'That's one way to get everyone's attention.' Jaune said, trading looks with the other Faunus before he heard Torchwick speak up.

"Well!? What are you all waiting for?" The man shouted before he pointed to the source of the gunshot. "Someone go and see what the hell that sound was." Seeing Roman turn his back while the remaining White Fang members before to disperse, some of them heading towards the gunshot. "You there!" Hearing Roman shouting again, Jaune turned around and froze when he saw the man point his cane at him. "Come here."

'I really hope Blake and Sun do something else.' As if to answer his prayers, more gunshots began to ring out, getting everyone to stop what they were doing and pulled out their weapons.

"What are you doing standing around for? Waiting for an invite!?" Roman shouted, getting more White Fang members to drop what they were doing before running off to the source of the fight. Jaune was about to do the same before felt something wrap around his shoulder and pull him back.

"You, help finish loading the crates." A Faunus said, jerking their thumb towards the Bullhead that had Torchwick in it. Nodding in agreement, Jaune put his gun away and picked up a nearby crate before heading towards the criminal.

"Come on! The sooner we get out of here, the better." Roman said, motioning to the pilot once Jaune was near the top of the ramp. Once Jaune set the box of Dust down, an explosion caused him and Roman to look towards a warehouse to see it now on fire with the remaining White Fang members making their way towards it. "Animals, honestly." Roman said before he took out a cigar. "Can't do the simplest of things. Alright, let's get out of here before we attract too much attention."

Looking towards the warehouse where the gunshot were going off, Jaune took a second to take a deep breath before he pulled out his pistol and fired off a shot.

* * *

And that's the end of this chapter. I know, I know, I did another cliff hanger, but I mainly put this up so I could announce that there's a poll on my profile...since you guys don't tend to listen if I put out _just_ an update chapter. So yeah, there's a poll deciding the pairings, so if you voice your choice here...it'll be ignored. Not to sound mean but the PM's are getting real annoying so I'm going to let the majority decide.

And again, I have a P-atreon. If you feel like supporting me, head on over (P-atreon/Sagistic).


	4. Chapter 4

This story's back! Now, with the poll being open for some time, I'm surprised with how many people voted (137 Votes). That being the case Knightshade won the poll, but only by 2 votes. Anyway, this might not affect the story too much and I can easily adjust the story to switch Blake and Ilia's position.

* * *

To Better (K)nights

Before Jaune could react, he found himself on the floor of a rocking Bullhead, a cane pinning him to the floor with a crosshair aimed at his forehead.

"I thought you looked suspicious." Roman said, his arms staying still as the Bullhead continued to rock back and forth. "Will one of you get this thing under control?" The man said, not bothering to look away from Jaune. "If case you forgot, we have some volatile cargo with us?"

"Tell that to the controls!" One of the Faunus shouted back, a large spark getting him to grunt.

"You know, I figured that someone like Red would be the one to crash the party." The man said, applying pressure to Jaune's face and forcing him to look to his left. "Turns out, it's just a scrawny little twig." To the blonde's relief, the Bullhead decided to rock again, causing Roman to lose his balance this time and stumble around. Using the opportunity, Jaune dove to his pistol and fired off a two more rounds, this time getting a few grunts for his attempt.

"Man down!" A voice called out before Jaune felt the Bullhead begin to spin. "Dammit, the controls are completely shot! We're going down!" Hearing that, the blonde widened his eyes before he tried to stand, only to be grabbed and thrown against the floor before an arm was pressed against his neck.

"You're not getting away so easily." Roman said, smirking as Jaune tried to fight back, grabbing the criminal's arm and doing his best to remove it. "I don't think so." Roman said as he applied more pressure. That didn't last long as the man was suddenly thrown away from Jaune, the Bullhead's spinning causing everyone onboard to be tossed around.

"We're going to crash!" Jaune's heartrate picked up when he heard the other pilot shout that out. Closing his eyes, Jaune reached out to grab something as the Bullhead continued to fall. Praying for a miracle, Jaune felt a warmth surround him before a bright light blinded him and an intense heat found its way towards him as the Bullhead finally hit the ground.

҉¯`•.¸With Blake¸.•´¯҉

"That's one down!" Sun shouted when as he watched one of the Bullheads fall into the ocean, a large splash and resulting water wave catching unsuspecting White Fang members. Blake simple nodded before she, and everyone else, covered their eyes at the sudden bright light that seemed to be coming from the last Bullhead. Just as Blake was about to ask what that was, the Bullhead's sudden spin out made her shut up and remember that Jaune wasn't with them.

Blake felt her eyes widen when she saw one of the Bullheads crash into the ground before a large explosion caused more White Fang members to go flying. It was only thanks to her training in the White Fang and her Faunus heritage that she was able to recover from the explosion. Looking around, Blake saw that most of the White Fang members were slowly recovering from the blast, Sun being among them.

"Sun!" Blake shouted, rushing to the Faunus and helping him up.

"What was that!?" Sun asked, looking towards the direction of the Bullhead's crash site, a pillar of black smoke marking its location.

"I don't know, but hopefully Jaune wasn't on there." Blake said before she and Sun began to head towards the crash. They didn't get too far before they saw some of the White Fang members getting back up.

"Go! I'll handle these guys." Sun said, pushing Blake towards the crash before he readied his weapon again. Blake took a second to look back at Sun before nodding and began to make her way towards the crash. As soon as she saw it, Blake froze in place when her eyes landed on two bodied that were lying next to the crash, one of them being Roman Torchwick while the other was Jaune.

"JAUNE!" Wasting no time, Blake made a B-line towards the blonde, not caring about the bodies of White Fang that were scattered about some of them slowly recovering from the explosion. Once she reached Jaune, Blake's body moved on its own as she looked over the blonde before picking him up and resting him in her arms. "Jaune! Are you okay? C'mon, speak to me!" Blake said before looked over Jaune's body and widened her eyes at the damage. Most of his clothes, save for a few armored plates, were burned off while his left arm and right leg were bleeding from various cuts.

"Damn kid…" Hearing a new voice, Blake looked up to see Torchwick on the ground. "…this was my favorite jacket." Hearing the man talk, Blake let out a growl before she set Jaune down and unsheathed her weapon, causing Roman to look up and smirk. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Roman said as he tried to get up, letting Blake see the damage he'd suffered. Like Jaune, some of his clothes had burned off, mainly his coat, half of his shirt and one of his pant legs. The leg that was exposed was bleeding, not too badly but enough that Roman used his cane to stand.

"It's over Torchwick!" Blake said, getting the man to chuckle in response.

"I don't think so, kitty-kat." Roman responded, holding up his hand before Blake found herself surrounded by White Fang members, some of them clearly still recovering from the explosion. "You see, this is the kind of things a hero gets into. Take blondie here," Roman said, motioning to Jaune's body. "If he didn't go and try to play hero, I bet he'd still be alive." The man said, chuckling more when he saw Blake change her weapon. "Ah, ah, ah. I wouldn't do that if I were you." Roman said, motioning to the White Fang members that were surrounding the two.

"Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?" Blake asked, looking around quickly to see a few of the members lower their weapons. "What does helping this _human_ accomplish? You were supposed promote equality to humans, not bend to their orders." Blake said, getting more members to lower their weapons before Roman let out a chuckle.

"Oh, kid. Didn't you get the memo?" Roman asked, twirling his hand in his hand. As if on cue, a pair of Bullheads appeared above the group, getting everyone to ready their weapons again. "The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together. They have no choice but to listen."

"Blake!" Hearing a familiar voice, Blake froze up a bit but kept her eyes on Roman as the man looked past her. She even saw a few White Fang members follow the man's gaze. "Jaune!"

"Well hello, Red." Roman greeted. "Isn't it past your bedtime?" Blake stood where she was until she saw Roman lift up his cane and fire off a shot. Following Roman's actions, the remaining Faunus aimed their guns at Blake as she crouched down and grabbed Jaune. Without hesitation, the White Fang members fired at her, watching as she and Jaune were riddled with bullets before fading away like illusions.

҉¯`•.¸With Jaune¸.•´¯҉

Jaune couldn't move his body and had a massive headache.

That was only way he could describe himself at the moment. The explosion had taken a massive hit on his Aura, but it was, surprisingly and thankfully, strong enough to protect him. The only problem he seemed to have was the fact that he had a massive headache, his left arm still felt like it was on fire and he couldn't move his body. Of course, he heard someone talking but he couldn't tell who it was or what they were saying. Even when he felt his body being lifted before being put back down, he couldn't move a finger. However, he slowly began to regain his movement, allowing him to move when he felt his body being picked up and dragged elsewhere.

"-ane. Jaune! Talk to me! Are you okay!?" Hearing someone talk to him, Jaune took a second to recollect himself before he realized that it was Blake who was talking to him.

"Bla…ke…" The blonde called out, getting a gasp in response.

"Jaune? You're alright!" As Jaune to regain more of his senses, he felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around him. Not putting up any resistance, Jaune waited until he was let go before he decided to focus on something else. That was when the blonde heard the sounds of a gunfight, of guns being fired while commands were being shouted out.

"Blake…" Jaune said, opening his eyes to see Blake looking down at him. "…what…happened?" The blonde asked, moving his eyes around to see that the Faunus had pulled him in between two Dust containers.

"You were in a crash." Blake said, looking around before she tried to pull Jaune further into the crates. "Ruby's also here and I think she's fighting."

"Ruby's here?" Jaune asked, his body moving enough to sit him up. "You need to help her." Jaune said, lifting his hand when he saw Blake open her mouth. "Look, I'll be fine, but Ruby's your leader. If she's risking herself to fight the White Fang, then you should at least help her." The blonde said before he motioned to his leg. "Besides, it's not like I can go anywhere." Seeing Blake nod, Jaune smiled as she ran back the way they came, more shouts and gunfire sounding out.

"Now…where did Torchwick go?" Jaune said, pressing himself against on of the containers before lifting himself to his feet before leaning on a container to leave his hiding spot. Once he was out in the open, Jaune took a second to catch his breath. He didn't get to move any further though as he heard the sound of a gun going off reached his ear and a surge of pain came from his right leg.

"You brats just don't know when to stop, do you." A voice shouted, getting Jaune to look up and see Torchwick limping his way over, his left leg being dragged as he used his cane like a crutch. "Honestly, is it that hard to just lay down and die?" Jaune simply glared at the man as he reached for his pistol, only to realized that he didn't have it anymore. "Looking for this?" Roman called out, lifting his other hand to show he had Jaune's gun in it. "Gotta admit, this thing is a piece of work. To survive a crash like that?" Roman said, the battle around them dying down, the gunshots and shouts being more sporadic as the two spare Bullheads crashed into the sea.

"It's over Torchwick!" Jaune shouted before using his arm to motion to the chaos around him. "Surrender now…and we can end this!" Jaune said before a gunshot made him grip his shoulder while another surge of pain went through his entire body.

"Just how much Aura do you have!?" Roman shouted before he began to move forward. Jaune didn't respond as he was pelted with more bullets, the pain surging throughout his body until he was kneeling on the ground. When he heard the sound of his gun cock, Jaune looked up to Roman pointing gun at his head. "I'm going to enjoy watching your head pop."

"I don't think so." Jaune said as Roman pulled the trigger, only reveal the gun was now empty. Throwing his arm out in a punch Jaune watched as Roman yelled in pain. Ignoring the pain as much as he could, the blonde tackled the criminal, causing the two to roll along the ground before Jaune felt a Roman kick him away. Seeing Roman glaring at him, Jaune felt a smirk grow on his face when he lifted up his pistol while throwing Roman's cane behind him. Instead of seeing Roman freeze, the man simply let out a chuckle.

"What are you going to do kid? The gun's empty." The man taunted, getting Jaune to let out a chuckle of his own. Roman's eyes widened when he saw Jaune eject the clip before sliding in a new one. "So what? You going to shoot me? Huh? You don't have the balls! Huntsmen like you…are nothing but dogs on a leash! You'd rather send me to prison than kill me!" Roman said, before a Jaune fired his gun and hit Roman in the arm causing the man's Aura to finally give up.

"You're right." Jaune said, as he tried to steady his aim. "A Huntsmen would've preferred to lock you up." Jaune said, getting Roman to let out a chuckle again. "But then again…" Jaune said, getting Roman to stop. "…I never said _I_ was a Huntsman." Roman barely had time to open his mouth before Jaune pulled the trigger, dropping the gun as soon as he saw Roman's head go flying back. Letting out a sigh, Jaune took a second to look around and survey the damage the battle caused. Nodding to himself, the blonde closed his eyes as his body began to fall forward.

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Hospital¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

'Am I dead?' The first thing Jaune noticed was that it was dark. He briefly wondered if he was in the still outside at the shipyard, but quickly wrote that off when he didn't hear any waves crashing against the docks. Unfortunately, that did little to calm his nerves. 'Oh god…what if I was captured?' The blonde thought, 'What if someone from the White Fang managed to kidnap me?!' Feeling his heartrate increase, Jaune started to move around but stopped when he heard a crinkle.

Reaching out for it, Jaune grabbed the source of the sound and brought it to his face, getting him to sputter when he felt a bouquet of flowers. Putting the flowers back where he thought they originally were, Jaune let out a sigh of relief.

"Guess I'm at the hospital…" The blonde muttered, looking around again as his eyes had somewhat adjusted to the dark room, allowing him to quickly glance over his surroundings. Seeing the typical cabinets and white walls of a hospital room, his eyes drifting to a clock hanging on the opposite wall.

"3:24…AM?" At least that explained why it was so dark in the room. Confident that he was safe (and not captured), the blonde let his body relax before a new though ran through his head. Deciding he should probably let everyone know that he was okay, the blonde slowly tried to sit up; until every one of his joints and muscles screamed in pain, that is. He desperately tried to hold in the string of curses that threatened to burst from his mouth, but he couldn't stop a small grunt of pain from slipping past his lips.

'Apparently I'm not completely healed yet.' Jaune sighed in disappointment. He still felt his body throbbing in pain, but it had at least lessened to a more tolerable level. Thankfully, the blonde was saved when the door to his room had suddenly opened and someone had walked in.

"You're awake, how about that." A voice said, getting Jaune look up. Walking towards him was young looking doctor, one that had her hair tied into a bun. "How do you feel? Can you sit up?" The doctor asked before Jaune shook his head.

"When I try to move, my body feels like it's on fire." Hearing that, the doctor nodded and quickly placed her hand above his head. Jaune didn't say anything as the woman's hand created a small cocoon of Aura around him that dispelled as quickly as it was created.

"Better?" The doctor asked, getting Jaune to sit up, the pain practically non-existent. "Good, since you're up; you might be able to help me with a few things." The doctor said, getting Jaune to blink while she took out a large scroll "Could you tell me your name?"

"Jaune…" The blonde said, taking a second to breathe. "Jaune Arcane."

"Interesting last name." The woman commented, getting Jaune to shake his head.

"It comes from my mother…" This got a hum in response.

"Age?"

"Seventeen."

"Hometown?"

"Bijou."

"The Hidden Jewel of Sanus?" The woman asked, getting Jaune to nod. "A'int that something. Now it says here, you're a mercenary." The doctor said before letting out a sadden sigh. "I have to say kid, you look really young."

"Recently started…" Jaune explained. "What happened?"

"Huntress brought you in." The doctor replied. "Said something about being in a fight and protecting her students." Jaune took a second to think of who brought him in before shaking his head. "Anyway, Beacon has paid for your treatments. As soon as you're feeling better, we can get you checked out and on your way." Jaune simply let out a sigh before resting against the bed before he furrowed his brows a bit.

"How long have I been out?" The blonde asked before he tried to look around for a calendar.

"Couple days," The doctor said, getting Jaune to sigh again. "How you feeling?"

"Aside from my pain from earlier? Lazy," Jaune said, getting the doctor to chuckle.

"Considering that you've survived not only an exploding Bullhead that crashed, but also being shot, that's better than nothing. Your Aura definitely went overtime to protect you though I have to say, you have some rather large reserves." Jaune raised an eyebrow at that before the doctor looked at him.

"Doesn't Aura protect you?" Jaune asked, getting the doctor to sigh.

"Aura can protect you from harm, that is true, but you've managed to escape the Dust-fueled explosion with just some simple scratches. From what I've heard, Roman Torchwick was forced to limp around after going through the same explosion." The doctor said, getting Jaune to blink. "Now you don't look like the kind that gloats, but don't go underestimating yourself." Jaune stayed silent as the doctor began to look him over, checking his heartbeat and breathing before lifting and moving his limbs around.

"So…what's the diagnosis?" Jaune asked, getting the doctor to look at him with an amused smirk and raised eyebrow.

"Well, your vitals are good." The doctor said, getting Jaune to smile a bit. "And it looks like your muscles are fine as well. Mind standing up for me?" Jaune shrugged his shoulders before he sat up and hopped off the bed. Feeling the world shift around him, Jaune began to wobble before he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. "Still a little lightheaded." The doctor said before motioning to the door. "Why don't you try and walk over to the door." Jaune gave the woman a nod before moving, only getting a few steps away before he stumbled to the floor. "Looks to me that you just a bit more rest."

"That's it?" Jaune asked as he was helped to his feet.

"Well, that Aura of yours did all the heavy lifting." The doctor explained. "Normally Aura can't do much aside from healing minor wounds, but stranger things have happened." Jaune said nothing as he was helped back to the bed laid down. "Why don't you catch up on some sleep and we'll try again later."

"Sounds good." Jaune said before he closed his eyes and fell back to sleep.

* * *

Yes, yes, I know! I killed Roman off, I feel the anger already! To be honest, originally, he going to killed off-screen and had it done by Ruby; though it would've been an accident. Also, yes, I did have Jaune's semblance activate during the crash, it was the main reason he and Roman survived.

And I can also hear you say 'Jaune acted really OOC in this chapter' to which I cannot really defend. I will have Jaune go through a little relapse over it, but he'll have Blake with him to talk it over.

Aside from that, the next chapter will basically be an expositional one and after that I'll start Jaune's journey. Also, since a lot had been revealed during Season 6 (not a fan of it to be honest), I'm going to take that into consideration.

And like before, I do have a P-atreon (P-atreon/Sagistic), so feel free to support me if you want. Until next time, See Ya!


	5. Chapter 5

Hey! I got another chapter for you! And I know…so soon? The answer: Yes. But before anything else; enjoy the chapter.

* * *

To Better (K)nights

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Ozpin's Office¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

"Ah, good, you've arrived." Ozpin said as soon as he saw Team RWBY and the remaining members of Team JNPR enter his office, escorted by Glynda who took a spot next to him. The headmaster took in a deep breath that he disguised as taking a sip from his coffee mug. With everything that happened with the two teams, the man wasn't able to let them know of Jaune's expulsion. Once the seven of them were in front of him, Ozpin let out a short breath before looking up. "Do you know why I've called you all here?" The man asked, getting everyone to share a look with one another.

"To…congratulate us on stopping the Dust robbery?" Ruby offered, letting out a squeak when the man turned his attention on her.

"Miss Belladonna." The man said, getting the Faunus to stiffen up before she stepped forward. "From what I've been told and seen, you've abandoned your teammates over the weekend after an argument, correct?" The man asked, getting Blake to nod. "Furthermore, instead of returning to Beacon and talking it out, it seems that you decided to do a little vigilante justice." The man added, getting another nod. "This incident result in the loss of valuable Dust as well as the death of many, including that of Roman Torchwick." Hearing that, Blake flinched before nodding.

"Hold on there, sir," Yang said, freezing for a second when Ozpin focused on her. "Y-you can't place all of that on Blake." The blonde continued, getting Ozpin raise an eyebrow. "Jaune was there too." Ozpin didn't say anything and simply interlocked his hands in front of him.

"While we appreciate your input Miss Xiao-Long, the events Ozpin is retelling have come straight from Miss Belladonna herself." Goodwitch said, getting everyone to turn to Blake, only to see her with her head down. "If it were not for her not leaving, a fight would've likely not broken out at the ship yards." The woman said before motioning to the window. "In fact, it would be more likely that the Dust would've been stolen and no one would've been hurt at all. The four of you would've been at Beacon and no time to head to Vale to participate." That got Blake and Ruby to wince.

"But since you've brought Jaune into this, that is another strike against you Miss Belladonna as your actions resulted in him being hospitalized." That made Blake flinch again. Ozpin decided to ignore it and took in a deep breath that caught everyone's attention. "Because of these actions, I am afraid, Miss Belladonna, that you are hereby expelled from Beacon Academy." Flicking the switch, Ozpin watched as the remaining six students immediately began defending Blake, while said Faunus nodded.

"That is enough!" Goodwitch said, silence the other's protests. "Ozpin's decision is final. While you may not like it, you can consider Miss Belladonna lucky." The woman said, getting everyone to look at Blake. "Had she _not_ been enlisted at Beacon, then she would've faced life in prison for her actions." At that, every one of the students widened their eyes. "As it stands, Miss Belladonna's actions are the result of Beacon's lack of rule and policies; this means that her charges are placed on Ozpin rather than herself." The room became silent at that.

"Miss Belladonna…" Ozpin said, breaking the silence that had filled the room. "…I am going have to ask that you pack your things. You'll have a week to leave the campus before being forced out." The man said, getting Blake to nod. "As for Team RWBY, we'll be looking for a replacement as soon this meeting is over." The man said before he turned his attention on the remains of Team JNPR. "As for Team JNPR, I'm afraid that you are also facing the same issue." This got the others, aside from Nora, to look at one another in concern.

"As of last Friday, Jaune Arc has been expelled from Beacon Academy as well." That got everyone's attention again. "We would've informed you about this that day, but it seems your focus on helping Team RWBY finding Miss Belladonna has prevented us an opportunity." Silence began to fill the room again before Ruby took a step forward.

"Hold on…" Ruby said, getting everyone to look at her. "…why was Jaune expelled? He didn't do anything wrong."

"On the contrary Miss Rose, he had." Goodwitch said, placing Jaune file on Ozpin's desk. "As you all likely know, Jaune had forged his transcripts in order to get into Beacon." This got everyone to look a different direction or put a hand on their head. "While this is something we would've passed over, it was the fact that Jaune was a civilian prior to being accepted." The woman said, "We hadn't expelled him _because_ of his transcripts, but rather to save him from dying here."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked, "He had his Aura unlocked."

"After Miss Nikos had unlocked it for him during initiation." Goodwitch countered, pulling up a screen and replaying the event. "In fact, had Miss Nikos not pinned him to the tree, it would've been likely that Jaune would've died from the impact alone." The woman said, pull up another screen to show Pyrrha's javelin pinning Jaune to the tree. "By all rights, Jaune _should_ have died during initiation; but favorable circumstances allowed him to live."

"Unfortunately, luck tends to run out quickly." Ozpin said, getting everyone to look at him. "As Glynda had said, we didn't expel Jaune for his transcripts, we did for his safety."

"But that didn't stop him from being hospitalized." Weiss said, getting everyone to look at her.

"That is correct Miss Schnee," Ozpin said, "However, just because Jaune couldn't continue to train here to be a Huntsman, doesn't mean he can't continue out in the world." Hearing that, the others took in a sharp breath of air. "Like Team RWBY, we will be looking for a replacement for your team as well." The man said, getting the others from team JNPR to nod. "However," The man continued, getting everyone's attention again. "There is something else we've brought you here for." Hearing that Goodwitch pulled up a new screen and increased it size.

" _If you're seeing this, then that means I've left Beacon."_ The video showed Jaune dressed in a different hoodie, one that armor plates attached to it. " _I won't act stupid and I'm going to assume that Ozpin already told everyone that I've been expelled from Beacon. It's no secret that I cheated my way into Beacon, and nothing I say will probably change that."_

"This was when Jaune left." Ruby said, getting Nora to shake her head.

"Before it actually…" The ginger said, ignoring everyone else's stares.

" _I won't bore you with any tragic backstory. I had my reason for coming to Beacon…it just turned out to the wrong ones."_ The video showed Jaune taking a deep breath before he looked at the screen again. _"Anyway, since I'm not going to attending Beacon anymore, I won't be needing much."_ The video showed Jaune stepping to the side to reveal his original armor and weapon on the bed behind him. _"But before I leave, I have one favor, for anyone watching this…either Nora, Ruby or even the Beacon staff."_

"I don't have a good feeling about this." Ruby said muttered casting a look at Nora to see her still looking at the floor.

" _Send Crocea Mors home."_ The video said, getting everyone to raise an eyebrow at it. _"It's a family heirloom, used over generations and handed down from father to son…until I took it."_ Hearing that, everyone widened their eyes. _"It should only be used in the hands of an Arc and thanks to my stupidity…I'm no longer one."_ That statement caused everyone to widen their eyes even more. _"Feel free to do whatever you want with the armor, it's just something I picked up on the way to Beacon. Just make sure my father gets the Crocea Mors back, even if you have to deliver it in person."_

"How would we send the sword back if we don't know where he lived?" Ruby asked.

" _The town of Bijou…The Hidden Gem of Sanus. That's where my family lives…"_ The video answered before video Jaune let out another sigh, this one accompanied with a short chuckle. _"And, if you care…maybe I'll leave my thoughts on everyone here…just some observations I made."_ With that, the video ended, a replay video showing on the screen as silence filled the room, but it was quickly ended by Ozpin clearing his throat.

"As you've just heard, Jaune had left a few things in the room he was provided. However, it seems the items he had left behind are missing and all we've been able to recover is his old scroll." Ozpin said, getting six of the students to look at one another. "Going off of recent relations and interactions with each of you, I was hoping that one of you would know anything about that." There was a long silence as seven students looked at one another.

"I didn't see anything." Ruby started, looking at the floor before focusing on Ozpin again. "I had to deal with Weiss and Yang fighting after Weiss caused Blake to run away." At that, Blake nodded before speaking.

"I don't know anything either. In fact, I ran into Jaune as he was leaving Beacon." Blake said, giving a shrug in response. "I did notice that he was wearing different clothes, but I didn't think much about it. Even then, he didn't tell me anything about leaving."

"We haven't talked to Jaune since news of his transcripts had come out." Ren said, getting a nod from Pyrrha, Weiss and Yang before everyone focused their attention on Nora, who was currently looking at the floor.

"Miss Valkyrie? Care to explain?" Ozpin asked, only getting silence in return. "Miss Valkyrie…If you would, can you please tell us where everything is?" The man asked, before a new voice spoke up.

"Indeed, and if you would, can someone please tell me where my son is as well." At that, everyone turned to the elevator and were greeted to the of a man and woman walking towards them. "Ozpin." The woman said, getting the man to lean forward on his desk and stare at the woman.

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Hospital¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

"Alright, ready?" Jaune nodded at the question before he pushed himself off the hospital bed. After going through another quick check-up, the doctor had decided to have Jaune try walking again in order to see if he was able to leave. "Okay, now walk, one foot in front of the other, until you touch the wall." Taking a deep breath, Jaune gave himself a quick nod before he began taking a few steps forward. "Now walk back to your bed." Jaune did as he was instructed, still measuring his steps. "Good."

"Did I pass?" Jaune joked, getting the doctor to chuckle.

"Almost, can you lift up your right leg and rub it on the back of your left?" The doctor asked, getting Jaune to nod before he did what was he was asked. "Now the other side." Repeating the actions with the opposite sides, Jaune saw the doctor give a nod before typing something down on her scroll. "Interesting." That caught Jaune's attention.

"What is?" Jaune said, slowly making his way to the doctor.

"Well, considering you've survived a Bullhead crash, it isn't _too_ surprising…" The doctor said before she turned her scroll around and showed an X-ray of Jaune's body. "…but it looks like aside from some strained muscles, your perfectly healthy." Jaune took a second to look over the X-ray, taking the scroll from the doctor to zoom in on his bones to see that they were fine. The doctor was kind enough to hit a button to change the X-ray into one that showed his muscles, his arms and legs being highlighted in a yellow-ish green light.

"So, nothing's wrong with me?" Jaune asked, getting the doctor to nod before took back the scroll.

"All I can recommend is taking it easy with lifting heavy things." The doctor said, getting Jaune blink. "C'mon, why don't we get you set and on your way?" Jaune could only nod as he was led back to the bed.

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Ozpin's Office¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

The tense atmosphere that was filling the room began to choke everyone else as Ozpin and the woman continued to stare at one another. The only one who seemed unaffected was the man that had accompanied the woman, who seemed to be more focused on Goodwitch.

"Well, Ozpin? I'm waiting." The woman said, breaking the silence and getting everyone else to take a deep breath. The man simply let out a sigh before leaning back in his chair, his coffee mug in his hands. He didn't get to take a sip before the sound of it shattering made everyone look at the woman to see her hand extended, the mug now in pieces on the floor beside her. "I will _not_ be tolerating your laidback attitude this time Ozpin." The woman's voice made everyone else stiffen up while Ozpin lean forward again.

"As far as I know," The man said, looking at the shattered mug, "Jaune was admitted into the hospital a few days ago." The sound of more glass breaking causing everyone to jump before they noticed the woman's fist on Ozpin's desk, a spiderweb of cracks growing from where her fist was. "We've yet to hear anything since."

"You're losing your temper again." The man said, getting the woman to let out a heavy sigh before she looked at Goodwitch. "We're in the presence of children, you know." At that, the woman cast at glance at the seven students before the tense atmosphere immediately dispelled, this time causing everyone to release the large breaths they were holding in.

"Your students are getting soft." The woman commented her attention focusing on Goodwitch when she cleared her throat. What surprised everyone was the fact that Goodwitch seemed to freeze up for a second before she collected herself.

"If it isn't too much trouble, Camellia," The blonde disciplinary said, "would you mind telling why you're here and how you found out about Jaune's expulsion?" Camellia took a second before she pointed to the screen that showed Jaune's video.

"How else." Camellia answered, "That video was sent to us Friday night. Naturally, hearing that our son had been kicked out from Beacon had us on edge. Rather than send for him, I figured that it would be best to come here ourselves." Goodwitch simply nodded in response before she took a step back. "As for who sent it…" Camellia said, taking out her scroll and pressing the screen a few times before Nora's scroll began to ring. This caused everyone to focus on her, though the six other student and Goodwitch were more in surprise while Camellia stopped the call.

"Nora, you called them?" Ruby asked, getting Nora to nod before she saw Camellia walk up to her.

"What relation do you have to my son?" The blonde woman said, lowering herself Nora's eye level.

"The three of us are-" Ren cut in before the woman looked at him, causing him to shut up immediately.

"I suggest that you learn to speak only when spoken to." The woman said, the tense atmosphere coming again. "If I had less patience, I could guarantee that you would not be conscious for speaking out of line."

"Temper…." The man said again, getting a sigh from the woman before Nora spoke up.

"I was his teammate." The ginger answered before motioning to Pyrrha and Ren, "He was our leader, but he acted like a brother to me after we became a team." Hearing that, Camellia raised an eyebrow before she nodded.

"I see…" The woman said, turning away from the student.

"You're Jaune's mom?" Nora asked, getting the woman to look back.

"Indeed. My name is Camellia Arcane." The woman said before she motioned to the man. "That's my husband and Jaune's father, Alexander Arc." At that, everyone raised an eyebrow before Alexander spoke up again.

"Before anyone asks, the Arc bloodline is _very_ traditional." The man said, extending the silence in the room. "But for now…" the man said before he looked away from Goodwitch and focused on Nora. "…would it be too much to ask for Jaune's things?" Nora looked at the man and nodded before she shook her head and began walking towards the elevator.

"You go ahead and collect what you need, dear." Hearing that, everyone turned to see Camellia returned to the front of Ozpin's desk. "Ozpin and I have somethings we need to discuss." The man simply nodded before he motioned for Nora to continue to lead the way. "I suggest that everyone else leave the room as well." The man simply let out a sigh as he watched the rest of the students as well as Glynda enter the elevator with him and Nora.

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Lady Fyre's¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

"Well, if it isn't little Mr. Mercenary himself." Pyre said, leaning on the counter when she saw Jaune enter, his clothes replaced with a casual set the hospital had given him from the Lost and Found. The blonde simply froze where he was before looking around, sighing when he saw that the shop was empty.

"Er…what?" Was all Jaune could say in response, something that make Pyre smirk.

"Guess you never got to take a look at the headlines." Pyre said, grabbing a paper from behind her before placing in in front of her. Jaune took a look at the headline before immediately taking a sharp breath.

 **Resident Criminal Roman Torchwick Killed!  
Unknown mercenary, believed to be Roman's killer, taken to hospital.**

"When did this come out?" Jaune asked, getting Pyre to raise an eyebrow in confusion?

"Just this morning, why?" Pyre said, her eyebrow raising higher when she saw Jaune let out sigh of relief.

"Oh, good. Then it means it hasn't reached my parents." Jaune said, handing the paper back before he moved behind the counter.

"Why would that be bad?" Pyre asked, getting Jaune to stop. "I mean aside from the whole 'possibility of taking you back home forever' thing?"

"My parents are not exactly level-headed…" Jaune said, taking a second to look at his hand. "…my mom in particular is a hot-head and is more than willing split mountains to look for me." Jaune said, getting Pyre said look at Jaune in disbelief. "She gives 'Over Protective Parent' a whole new meaning."

"So what? You just gonna hide out here for a while?" Pyre asked, getting Jaune to remain silent; that was the only answer she needed. "I see, well, feel free to stay. Judging from the look on your face, you'd rather fight a horde of Grimm than your own mother. That says something." Hearing that, Jaune couldn't help but blush "And besides, there's also the fact that your new armor is ruined, so I might have to make more."

"Are you sure? I mean, about making me another set of clothes? I don't think I can afford it." The blonde said, getting a dismissive handwave in return.

"Relax. Everyone needs a helping hand every now and then." Pyre said, before she smirked and held up the newspaper again "As for paying, you can just pay me off when you collect your reward." Hearing that, Jaune raised an eyebrow.

"My reward?" The blonde asked, getting Pyre's smirk to grow.

* * *

And there we have it. A somewhat expositional chapter that will continue into the next one. Anyway, for those of you who probably didn't noticed, I had changed a something with the description of the story and had changed the character tags. The reason being that I'm doing this story again with a similar take and this one will have more story to it than the alternative. I don't know if I'll upload the alternative, since it'll be different and probably longer.

Anyway, thanks for the support and for helping this story reach over 100 favorites, over 150 follows and just over 7,500 views. I really don't have much to say here other than that the next chapter will continue from here.

And to clear something up: I made a mistake and referred to Jaune as a mercenary. I will correct that in later chapters but know that I intended for him to be a Freelancer.

Until next time, see ya!


	6. Chapter 6

Hello! I'm finally back with another chapter. Sorry for the delay, I got into an argument over with my sister and it resulted into a messed-up babysitting schedule.

* * *

To Better (K)nights

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Vale Huntsmen Offices¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

Jaune let out a sigh as he waited on a bench with Pyre was humming happily beside him.

"Do we have to be here?" Jaune asked, getting Pyre to stop humming and look at him with a lazily raised eyebrow.

"Do you want your reward money?" The Faunus asked, getting Jaune to look around. There weren't many people around, aside the receptionist and two other huntresses, but the blonde couldn't help but feel a little uneasy about being here.

"I never thought that Huntsmen Offices set up a bounty on Roman Torchwick." Jaune said, getting Pyre to shrug.

"The man clearly had Huntsmen training," The Faunus said, "I don't think the Vale Police Department would put out a bounty on someone who was clearly out of their league; especially if they have people around who can match him." At that Jaune took a second to think before squinting one eye.

"And yet, the one person to take him down was nothing more than a liar who was kicked out of Beacon." Jaune said, getting Pyre to open her mouth before shutting, offering another shrug. The silence that fell over them was calming until Pyre let out an exaggerated sigh.

"There's like five people out here, including the receptionist!" Pyre said loudly, getting the two Huntresses to look at her and Jaune. "How long does it take to service two people?"

"This feels like waiting at the clothes store with my sisters…" Jaune mumbled, letting his body droop a bit as he tried to sink into the floor. As the blonde continued his fruitless efforts, a door opened before a man poked his head out.

"Which one of you is here for the bounty on Torchwick?" The man asked, getting Pyre to jab a thumb towards Jaune.

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Beacon Halls¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

"This might sound mean to ask but…" Nora started, getting Alexander to look at her, "…is Jaune's mom always like that?" This got everyone else's attention, and caused them to slow a bit as they looked to Jaune's father. The man simply let out a sigh and shook his head.

"No, in all honesty, she's the sweetest woman you could ever meet." Alexander said, "However, she was brought up with a strict life style. To her, respect is something earned and, until it is, both parties have the right to act as rudely as they want." The man explained, focusing on Ren near the end. "In all honesty, cutting in the conversation like you had tried to was nothing new to her. But you have to consider the fact circumstances we're under."

"Circumstances?" Ruby asked, getting a nod in return.

"We, two parents who were worried sick about our runaway son, had just learned where he was after months of no communication." Alexander said, getting everyone to widen their eyes. "Can you imagine what your parents would likely feel in our place. No doubt that, if they cared for you, they would've wanted to get you back as soon as possible." The man said, before letting out a sigh. "Of course, she is admittedly a bit of a hot head."

"If you don't mind," Blake said, getting everyone's attention as she stopped in place. "I'm going to head to our dorm and pack up." The rest of her team widen their eyes before Yang walked forward stopped next to Blake.

"Why don't you guys go to the locker room?" The blonde said, waving them away casually. "I'll help Blake here and we'll meet up there?" Before anyone could answer, Yang began to drag Blake away by her wrist. "C'mon partner, let's get you ready." While Weiss and Ruby seemed to watch the corner, Nora simply began to walk again. This got everyone's attention and caused Ruby to look back at the corner before following, Weiss doing the same with a roll of her eyes.

The walk was quiet for the rest of the way, only interrupted when Alexander took a second stop and look out the window, as if he were waiting for something to happen.

-With Blake-

"You sure you're okay with leaving all of these?" Yang asked, motioning to their bed former bed, specifically the stacks of books that were used to being hold it up.

"As much as I don't want too, I don't I'll be able to carry all of them." Blake said as she looked towards the books. Slung over her shoulder was a simple duffle back that held extra sets of clothes while her brief case was full of toiletries and a few books she didn't leave behind.

"Hey…" Yang asked, getting Blake to look back. "Can I ask you something?" Blake blinked at the request before she motioned for Yang to continue. "Why did you run? When you told us that you were once a part of the White Fang?" At that, Blake let out a sigh before she turned back to the books and skimmed over the books again. Yang didn't say anything and simply waited before Blake let out a heavier sigh.

"Honestly, I was afraid." Blake said, before she grabbed a book and, with a precise showing of skill, managed to remove the book without causing the bed to topple over. "I mean, all my life I was told how SDC treated Faunus. How the company basically made Faunus nothing more than slaves." Blake said, before she repeated the same actions with another stack of books. "I mean, I never seen an actual mine run by SDC, but the amount of Dust I saw on trains was more than enough to convince me."

"So, you assumed that Weiss was going to do something like that?" Yang asked, getting Blake to shake her head.

"I was afraid that she was going to turn me in. I did just admit to being a part of the White Fang before coming to Beacon." The Faunus said, her ears flattening against her head. "It wasn't the best option, but it was the one that appealed the most at the moment. Even Jaune told me that I made a should've stayed."

"Speaking of which," Yang said, getting Blake stop and turn to her. "Are you going be sticking with Jaune once you leave?" Blake took a second to blink while Yang just shrugged. "I mean, he was there for you when you ran away so you likely know where he's staying and if Torchwick is anything to go by…he's clearly able to take care of himself." Yang said, looking away near the end. "That actually makes we wonder if it was right to push him away…" Even though Yang whispered the last part, Blake still heard it.

"Probably…" Blake said, getting Yang to look at her with surprise. "…he's the only person I know that's dependable." The Faunus said, letting out a sigh as she closed her briefcase and stood up. Seeing Yang's betrayed face, Blake closed her eyes. "Look me in the eyes Yang. Tell me that if it had been the other way around that you would've done what he had."

"What do you mean?"

"Yang, you're not the only one who pushed Jaune away. Practically everyone in their first and second year pushed Jaune away." Blake said, motioning towards the window. "I'm asking you to look me in the eye and say that if we had done that to you…would you be willing to help us out still?" Yang opened her mouth to answer but she immediately shut it when Blake focused all her attention on her, not blinking as she waited for Yang to speak. The blonde, however, shut her mouth and begun to turn away.

"No…"

"But Jaune would." Blake said, getting Yang to flinch. "Even after what we did, Jaune still helped." Blake said, letting out a hallow chuckle. "And seeing him own up to his mistakes made me realize that I was nothing more than a hypocrite. All my talk about Faunus equality and I don't even lift a finger against him and Cardin when I knew something was up. I could've taken that as an opportunity to show that Faunus can stand up for humans." Yang simply shrugged before an uncomfortable silence.

"We should get going." Yang said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "I think the others are in the locker rooms right now." Blake simply nodded in agreement as she followed Yang to the door.

-With Nora-

"Here's Jaune's things…" Nora said before she unlocked her rocket locker and let the door swing open. Inside, Nora's grenade launcher/hammer was collapsed and hanging on a set of hooks while a familiar set of armor was nestled on the bottom with the object they were looking for was sticking out from the top of the chest plate. Without a word, Alexander reached into the locker and grabbed Crocea Mors, taking a second to unsheathe it before nodding.

"Even after all this time, it's still strange to see this blade like this." The man said before he unfolded the shield and put himself into a readied stance. The remaining five students took a second to blink when they instantly recognized the similarities between the man and Jaune when it came to their postures. The man simply let out a quick grunt before putting the weapon away. "Make me wonder what Jaune would've done with it had it not been re-forged." Hearing that, everyone blink in unison at what they heard.

"Wait, Jaune's sword used to be different?" Nora asked, getting Alexander to nod.

"Yes. In fact, it was taller than even me when I wielded it." The man said, before he pulled out a photo that showed him with the blade. The pictured showed him, albeit a much younger version, with a large sword that was currently stabbed into the ground next to him, letting him lean on it while a group of kids were standing at his feet. Giving the students a quick look, Alexander watched as the five students to looked at him again with wide eyes, Ruby, Nora and Weiss all craning their neck up to see his face. While the father could admit his son was tall, he himself was still a head and a half taller than Jaune.

"…Wow…" Was all that anyone could say, getting Alexander to chuckle before putting the photo away.

"Indeed, but, since I felt it was time to pass it on, I had it broken down re-forged into a sword and shield." The man said, before looking up a bit. "Still have some scraps for just in case purposes."

"But…Jaune said he stole it." Ruby said, getting the man to nod again. "If you were supposed to pass it on…why did Jaune steal it?"

"Because it was supposed to go to his twin sister." Alexander said curtly. "Tradition states that I had to pass the sword onto Jaune when he became of age. However, his mother's own traditions conflicted with this and we decided Jaune was going to take on her traditions when he was born."

"Is that why you didn't train him?" A voice asked, getting everyone to turn and see Pyrrha staring at Alexander. The man didn't seem bothered by the somewhat angered stare the champion had on her face.

"Yes, it is." Alexander replied, his voice calm yet now having an authoritative tone to it. "As I've said, this was decided when he was young. Even if I don't support it personally, it was an agreement I felt was best for him."

"So it wouldn't have bothered you if he got hurt during initiation?" Pyrrha asked, getting the man to close his eyes. As he did, the room began to fill with a certain atmosphere that made the students begin to fear for the man like a child would a parent.

"I suggest that you think over your words carefully girl." Alexander said, his voice still remaining the same. "Do not assume you know what's best for Jaune." The man said, before he opened his eyes and focused solely on Pyrrha. "And do not assume that I never cared for him. You are but a child and any Huntsmen or Huntress could see that." At that, Alexander held up the sheathed sword and pointed at her.

"So, you didn't think that he would come to Beacon?" Pyrrha asked, getting Alexander let out a sigh and lowered the sword.

"My money was personally on Haven, but I won't claim to know my son like a normal parent would. The actions of my wife and I are clear of that." Alexander said, "But I will not have a girl such as you attempt to paint me as the sole cause for it all." The man continued as he turned around. "Even if my son didn't listen to us…we've always made our feelings clear to him."

"And he respected that." A voice said, getting everyone to turn towards the door to see Blake and Yang walking through it. While the five other students remained quiet, Alexander raised an eyebrow at Blake.

"You knew my son?" The man asked, getting Blake to shake her head.

"Not on a personal level, but enough that he told me about his family." Blake answered before she walked past the man and up to her locker. "I'm the reason he's in the hospital." Blake said, stopping her actions to take a deep breath and choosing to ignore the fear that was creeping up the back of her neck "I won't defend myself not for what I did to him. And now that I'm no longer a part of Beacon…you have every right to hurt me." As Blake finished saying that, she closed her eyes and waited, for someone to say or do something.

"It seems like my son got to you too." The man said, surprising Blake when he slammed his hand on her shoulder. "Jaune's always had a way of accepting responsibility; whether he knows it or not, he tends to pass that sense on to others." Alexander explained. "Come, I think my wife would like to have a word with you two." The man said, stopping to motion to Nora before he continued to walk away with Blake.

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Ozpin's Office¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

Ozpin was at a loss for words as he stared the woman in front of him, her serious expression making hard for him to do anything but sputter out senseless words.

"Y-you can't be serious!?" Ozpin said, getting up from his desk as the Camellia's smirk disappeared.

"You know damn well that I don't joke when it comes to _you_." Camellia said, before she extended one finger and used it to tap on Ozpin's desk. "I had no problem with Jaune attending Beacon. He knew we didn't want him to be a Huntsman, and yet he did it anyway. I will always respect my children's decisions and won't interfere even if I want to. _But_." Camellia said, balling her fist again and slamming it against Ozpin's desk, spreading the cracks she made earlier. "You've made the mistake of expelling him."

"I did what I had to…" Ozpin said, getting Camellia to lean in with blank expression. "…to prevent any conflict."

"More like didn't want your precious little fortress to fall in the chance _I_ found out." Camellia stated before her face twisted into one of disgust. "But I'm telling you this now and only once; there's nothing I that will stop me from watching over my son." The woman said, getting Ozpin to narrow his eyes at her.

"The war against the Grimm-"

"Is not the only threat in the world!" Camellia cut off, her fist crashing into Ozpin's desk and causing it to shatter entirely. "We both know you can't defeat Salem, not on your own. But I'll be damned if I let you use anyone in my family to accomplish that." The woman said, before she reached over and grabbed Ozpin by his collar. "You may have tricked the rest of the Arcane Tribe into giving their lives away, but I'm not that blind. But now that I see you've tried to use him…I have no choice but to act." Hearing that, Ozpin widen his eyes before he felt himself being shoved into his chair as he watched Camellia turn and walk away.

"Camellia." The headmaster said, getting the woman to stop and look back. "Is this really what your parents would've wanted?" Ozpin asked, instantly regretting his word when he felt a blade bury itself into his chair. Giving the blade a quick glance, Ozpin focused on Camelia again as the blade began to disappear.

"I wouldn't know." The woman said, her voice both cold and sadden. "I was only a little girl when you took them away." Seeing that the conversation was over, Camellia walked to the elevator and stepped inside. However, before the doors closed, the woman said one more sentence; one that made Ozpin's blood freeze over. "Qrow, tell your sister that the Branwen Tribe will finally be fulfilling its duty." A few seconds later, a crow perched itself in an open window, taking second to look at Ozpin before flying off to deliver its newest message.

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Lady Fyre's¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

Jaune said nothing as continued to look at the single card that was in his hand as if it held the secrets of the world.

"Seriously? You've been looking at that since we've got it." Pyre said, getting Jaune to look away before holding it up.

"Sorry. It's just…I've never held this much money at once." The blonde answered before shrugging. "At best, I had enough for a used game; and that was if I saved up or I didn't give it to one my sisters."

"It's only fifteen percent of the total. Don't go gaga over it." Pyre said, getting Jaune to lazily raise an eyebrow at her.

"Seventy-five thousand isn't exactly what I was expecting." Jaune said, holding the card a bit higher. "I mean, I heard that Roman was criminal, but I didn't think Vale put a half-million bounty on him." That got Pyre to shrug a shoulder.

"I can't believe that he actually dipped his hand into Mistral's underground." The Faunus said, looking up from the dagger she was working on. "No doubt that Mistral was paying for that bounty as well. Their underground business is more cutthroat…sometimes literally."

"Still, this should set me up for a while, right?" Jaune asked, getting Pyre to nod.

"More or less." Pyre said before she held up the dagger, inspecting it before putting down to continue her work. "But, if I could suggest an option." At that, Jaune nodded. "Toss a payment my way and I can get a new set of clothes for you, more durable this time." Hearing that, Jaune blushed. "And it'll still cost the same."

"Think you can make me something else?" Jaune said, getting Pyre to look up. "Something I can use with my new gun, like a new sword." That got Pyre to smirk again, something that made Jaune shiver again.

"Kid, I've already got something in store for you." Pyre said, pointing the dagger at him.

* * *

And done. Like I said, I'm sorry for the delay but I didn't really have much time to write since I'm still watching my sisters' kids. I could technically write and watch them, but the kids are the kind who'll immediately try to do something as soon as you take your eyes off of them.

Anyway, I'll try and get the next chapter out as soon as I can. Until next time, see ya!


	7. Chapter 7

What's up guys? Sorry for the wait, something happened, and I was forced to take a break. I'll put an explanation at the end so enjoy the chapter.

* * *

To Better (K)nights

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯?¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

Cinder Fall was not happy, scratch that, she was absolutely pissed. The newspaper that had been in her hands and was now a pile of ash at her feet was evident of that.

"The loss of the Dust will be a minor step back, but the loss of Roman Torchwick _is_ a major step back." The woman said, getting her two underlings to wince. "Is there anything else?" The woman asked, getting Emerald to look back towards Mercury, who motioned for her to step up.

"W-well…" Emerald started, looking up to see Cinder glaring at her, the woman's eyes glowing. "It seems that Adam isn't happy about losing all the Faunus during Roman's last heist." Emerald, taking a second to take in a deep breath. "He's threatening to pull out whoever he has left, u-unless you can prove that he won't lose anymore." To Emerald and Mercury's surprise, Cinder closed her eyes and took in a very deep breath.

"Anything else?" The woman said through gritted teeth.

"Roman's little friend is a little upset that he died and bailed on us." Mercury said, schooling his features when Cinder opened her eyes and turned her attention towards him. In response, Mercury simply held up a card, a Joker that had the word 'Goodbye' written on it. At that, Cinder held out her hand and set the card on fire, causing Mercury to drop it and watch as it was burned away.

"Do we know _who_ killed Roman?" Cinder asked, turning her attention towards Emerald.

"Not exactly." Emerald said, lifting her arms hesitantly to shrug. "S-someone did check in to collect the bounty on Torchwick, but the distributor gave them an unmarked card. We have no account to link it to and the only people who've seen him are two huntresses and some secretary." The teen said, getting another deep breath from Cinder. "We couldn't identify the Huntresses and the secretary has a connection to Vale's council."

"Is that all?" The woman asked, looking to Emerald again. The girl took a second to look at Mercury, who simply shrugged, before nodding. "What is it?"

"We might have discovered someone who could tell us a thing or two." Emerald revealed, "She owns a local weapon shop for Huntsmen." That seemed to settle Cinder down, getting her to close her eyes and nod.

"Very well. I want you two to have a word with this person." Cinder said, "Do not attract any attention, merely find out what she knows. Do you understand?" At that, Emerald stood up straight while Mercury walked beside her.

"Yes ma'am." Emerald said before the two teens walked away, leaving Cinder to herself.

"Now, what to do with the White Fang…"

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Beacon Halls¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

Blake and Nora stayed silent as they followed Alexander through the halls of Beacon. Though neither of them wanted to admit it, they were a little scared about facing Jaune's mother again. Though the man had assured them that it would be alright, they still couldn't help but remember the feeling from before when they were in Ozpin's office.

"Have either of you ever talked to Jaune about his sisters?" Alexander asked, getting the two girls to jump in surprise. Sharing a look with one another, the two turned back to the man to see him looking back with a raised eyebrow.

"He mentioned something about having seven sisters…" Blake said, looking towards the window. "I didn't want to ask because I figured that we wouldn't see each other anymore." The Faunus said, getting Alexander to let out hum.

"The rest of my team never really asked him about his sister, mainly because we saw that he would get sad whenever he mentioned them." The ginger said, getting another hum from Alexander. "Why did you want to know?" Nora asked, getting Alexander to let out a sigh.

"Aside from our oldest, Jaune's relationship with his sisters had always been strong." Alexander started, "Whenever he met someone new, the first thing he would talk about was how much he cared about his sisters." The man continued, "But, just before Jaune left, his sister all told him to drop his dream of becoming a Huntsmen." That got Nora and Blake to gasp lightly. "Likely because of our influence…just another thing to regret."

"Do you expect Jaune to forgive you?" Blake asked, getting the man to laugh as if she had told a joke.

"Absolutely not." Alexander replied, surprising the two girls. "Jaune's dream was to be trained to become a Huntsmen, and to make me and my lineage proud. I kept pushing Jaune away, even if I did it to give him a better purpose. He has all the right in the world to hate me for what I had done." The man said, taking a second to before shaking his head. "No, I don't expect Jaune to forgive me. His mother on the other hand…" The man said, raising a hand and tilting it from side to side. "She never discouraged him, but her overprotectiveness likely created some cracks in their relationship."

"So, you're okay with Jaune hating you for the left of his life?" Nora asked, getting Alexander to nod.

"My actions my say otherwise, but I'll always love my children." The man said before he stopped and looked to his right, getting the two girls to do the same before freezing. "I'm guessing that the lack of destruction means that things went well?" Alexander asked, smiling at the sight of his wife walking towards him.

"It means that Ozpin didn't piss me off too much, this time." The woman said, her eyes quickly looking towards Blake and Nora before refocusing on Alexander.

"I figured they could help." Alexander answered with a shrug. "One of them was the one is the reason our boy was sent to the hospital." That got Camellia to turn towards the girl again, the tense atmosphere slowly returning before it dispersed when the woman let out a sigh.

"There's no use getting angry over that." The woman said, surprising the two girls again. "My name is Camellia Arcane, Jaune's mother." The woman said, holding out a hand. Though hesitant, the two girls shook the woman hand before they saw her motioned to follow her. "I'm guessing my husband already told you the reason why we're here?" Getting a nod from the girls, Camellia let out a sigh. "Unfortunately, we're going to have to leave here shortly." That got the others' attention

"Really?" Alexander asked, "Without Jaune?" At that, Camellia stopped and, in one fluid motion, spun around on one foot before bringing up a gun and shoving it in her Alexander's face.

"You may be my husband but that doesn't mean I can't kick your ass." The woman said, getting Alexander to lazily raise his hand in surrender. Removing her gun, the woman let out a heavy sigh before turning around and walking away. Seeing the woman's mood immediately shift, Alexander let out a sigh of his own before he motioned for Blake and Nora to follow again.

"W-why are you leaving?" Nora asked, picking up her pace a bit so she was next to Jaune' mother.

"There are some things that I need to get ready for Jaune." The woman said, getting Blake to raise an eyebrow.

"You think he's going to go back home?" The Faunus asked, getting a nod.

"I want nothing more to find Jaune, but I also need to prepare something for him," Camellia answered. "He might not come home anytime soon, but…" The woman said nothing and shook her head before continuing to walk.

"Why not have his associates find him?" Alexander offered, getting everyone to look at him with a raised eyebrow as he motioned to Blake. "It's more than clear that you're leaving Beacon. Do you think you can help a pair of parents find their lost son? If not to bring him back, then to ease their minds?" The man asked, causing the group to stop again and focus on Blake. The Faunus looked at the two parents before rubbing the back of her head.

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Camellia added, seeing Blake's hesitance. "You have your own life." Seeing that Blake was not going to answer, the two blondes simply nodded before they turned around to walk away again.

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Lady Fyre's¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

Jaune grit his teeth as he held up his gun and fired off a few shots, all of them missing their target before an alarm rang out. Hearing that, the blonde let out a sigh before he placed his gun down and rested his hands on the counter in front of him and leaned forward.

"Don't beat yourself up over it." A voice said, getting Jaune look up to see Pyre walking up towards him.

"I can't do it anymore." Jaune said, looking at the in front of him before closing his eyes. "Every time I focus…all I see is Roman's face. The…shock that I wasn't afraid to shoot him." Jaune said, pushing off the counter and walking away. Pyre didn't stop him and simply collected the blonde's gun, taking a look towards the paper target to see only one bullet hole next to the head. Holding it and aiming towards the head, she fired off a few shots and looked at the gun when the bullets veered off to the left a bit.

Tilting her head at results, Pyre fired off a few more, emptying the clip before ejecting it and following Jaune. There was nothing but silence as the two exited the firing range, causing Pyre to click her tongue when they returned behind the counter.

"Well, can't say I didn't expect a relapse." Pyre said, looking at Jaune as he leaned against wall. "Seeing someone die _is_ different from actually killing them." The Faunus said, getting Jaune to look at her as she set the gun down at her work bench, a myriad of tools popping out and settling themselves around the gun. "Don't beat yourself up about it. A lot of people experience the same thing." The Faunus said as she began to dismantle Jaune's gun.

"Have you?" Jaune asked, getting Pyre to stop.

"Kid…there's a reason I chose to create and work on guns." Pyre said, giving Jaune an answer before she continued to take apart Jaune's gun. "All I can say is that you shouldn't let it get any easier."

"The killing?" Jaune asked, getting a nod from Pyre. Jaune stared at the Faunus for a few more seconds before nodding and pulling out his scroll. "You mind if I head upstairs?" The blonde asked, holding up his scroll. "There's a few classes I have make up." Pyre simply motioned towards the stairs, getting Jaune to smile before he headed up the stairs. As soon as the Faunus heard the upstairs door close, her attention was brought to the entrance door when it opened.

"Welcome. Have a look around and I'll be with you momentarily." The Faunus said, her response becoming an automatic one after working her shop for long. Even though she wasn't looking at them, the Faunus knew that the new entries were looking around. "If you have any questions, feel free to ask." At that, the Faunus slowed down her work on Jaune's gun when she two set of feet make their way towards her. "Anything I can help you with?" The Faunus asked, stopping her work to look at the two teens at the counter.

"We're wondering if you can help us." One of the teens said, leaning the counter. They were a girl with mint green hair dressed in white and green color scheme while the other was a boy with silver hair and dressed in a more greyscale color scheme.

"If it can cock, lock and shoot lead, I'm your gal." Pyre said, taking a second to familiarize herself with the two teens' scents when they turned to look at one another.

"Actually, we were hoping you could help us find someone." Hearing that, Pyre's raised an eyebrow while the rest of her body slowly tensed.

"Look here," Pyre responded, her tone catching the off guard at how quickly it changed while she leaned on the counter. "I'm not an information broker. You want service like that? Head over to 'The Den' and talk to the owner, goes by the name 'Junior'. Tell 'Lady Fyre' sent you."

"Funny thing about that." The girl said, giving an innocent smile, one that Pyre saw through immediately. "He's the one that told us to you, Ms Fyre."

"Did he now?" Pyre said, getting a nod from the girl. "That's funny because-" Pyre stared before she pulled out a hunting knife and stabbed it into the counter, stabbing it in between the girl's fingers and getting her to look at back in shock. "-my ex isn't one to give out information like _that_ so easily." The Faunus said, an innocent smile getting the two to back away. "Would you like to help with anything else?" The two teens shared a look with one another before shaking their heads.

"No ma'am." The girl said, lightly slapping the boy in the chest before they left, the two stopping at the door when Pyre spoke up again.

"Jewelry polish, gun lubricant and blood…what interesting scents." The Faunus said before she heard the door to her shop open and close again. Waiting a few more seconds, Pyre pulled out her scroll and dialed an old number. "Junior? Listen, I need a little favor."

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Beacon Landing Docks¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

There was silence as the Jaune's parents, Blake and Nora walked towards the airships. Alexander and Camellia had whispered a few things to one another, but Blake and Nora had decided to keep their distance in case their conversation was personal. It wasn't until the parents had began to walk up the airship's ramp that Blake finally spoke up.

"Hold on." Hearing the Faunus over the airship's engines, the two parents looked back to see Blake walked up to them. "It just wanted to say that I'll look for Jaune." The Faunus said, "I don't know what the problem Jaune has with you, but…" The Faunus said, giving the two a small smile. "…hopefully I can help make sure he doesn't repeat the same mistakes I did with my parents." The two parents shared a look with each other before Camellia nodded and reached into her pockets.

"Here," The woman said before she held out a slip of paper. "When you find Jaune, give this to him and have him listen to it." Blake took the slip of paper and nodded before walking back down the ramp. "And thank you for helping." Camellia shouted, smiling before she followed her husband into the ship. Blake simply gave a wave as she watched the airship lift off from the landing pad and head back towards Vale. After a while, Blake looked at the slip of paper in her hand.

"What's that?" Nora asked, getting Blake to shrug. The slip itself was in stiffer than it seemed and long with a few small rectangular holes punched in it in a pattern as well as a few bumps.

"No idea. Jaune's mother gave it to me and said to give it to Jaune." Blake said before she put the slip of paper into her backpack. As soon as she did, her scroll began to ring. "Hello?"

"Blake!" Hearing her team leader's voice scream through the device, Blake pulled it away from her ear. "Where are you!? We've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Relax Ruby, I'm at the landing docks." Blake said, rolling her eyes when she heard Ruby gasp and tell the others. "Stay right there Blake. We're coming to meet you!" Before Blake could ask why, Ruby hung up, leaving a dead line to answer.

"What's up?" Nora asked, getting Blake to sigh.

"Ruby and the others are heading this way." Blake said with a shrug. "I guess they think that I'm leaving Beacon right now." Nora simply nodded and looked back at Beacon before speaking.

"So, you're going to go look for Jaune?" The ginger asked, getting Blake to look at her before nodding. "Do you mind if I join?" That got Blake to raise an eyebrow in surprise. "Jaune may not go to Beacon anymore but he'll always be my fearless leader." The Faunus simply smiled.

"Sure. I might know where he's already is." Blake said, getting Nora to look at Blake with slightly wide eyes. Before the ginger could say anything, the sound of the others running towards them made her stop.

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯VPD¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

Neo stared at the officer that was standing behind the desk, their attention on the computer as she waited. She was here for one thing and one thing only, something to help her remember her partner. Inching closer to the desk, Neo quickly moved when the door behind the officer opened and another one stepped out. Before either could tell, the small assassin was passed the door and making her way further into the precinct. Unlike everyone else, she knew who had killed Roman, getting a good look at his face before he was taken away along with Roman's body.

She also wasn't stupid and knew that attacking the blonde, as inexperienced as he was, was a terrible thing to do. She mainly came to that conclusion when she watched both the blonde and Roman crawl away from the remains of a Dust fueled explosion. Working with Roman for so long, she knew he limits so surviving a blast like that was something she knew was possible, if only slightly; however to have someone younger than him escape the same blast, with even less damage, made it clear that his Aura levels outclassed hers.

She had an opportunity to end the blonde's life after he had passed out, but Neo didn't get this far in life taking risks. It hurt a bit that Roman's body was carted away, but she had already visited the morgue where his body had been stored. She didn't waste too much time saying her good-bye before she came here.

Activating her semblance, Neo slipped passed the various officers as she until she found herself in front of a metal door with the word 'Evidence' written on the frosted glass window. Looking around, Neo let out a silent breath before she used her semblance again and made it look like she was an officer trying to get into the evidence room.

"The code not working?" A voice asked, getting Neo to turn around and see woman walking towards her before nodding. "Here, let me." The woman said, placing a card against the pin pad before the sound of locks opening got her to nod. "There you go." Neo gave the woman a nod before heading into the room, wasting no time heading over towards the stored weapons and looking through them "Can I ask what you're looking for?" At that, Neo held up a picture of Roman. "Torchwick's cane, huh?" Neo nodded at that, getting the woman to sigh. "Unfortunately, his weapon was shipped off to a local gunsmith to be taken apart." At that, Neo froze and turned around slowly. The only response she got was a shrug of the shoulders.

Letting out a huff, Neo walked past the officer and exited the room.

* * *

Alright, so, how was it? I'm sorry for the lack of updates but like I said in the beginning, I was forced to take a break. Why? Well, because I went into a coma after having another seizure. Apparently, I had a lot more internal damage done that originally thought and had suffered for the lack of check-ups. Anyway, since my last post, that happened and I was recommended to take it easy as well as go through few test and such, standard stuff.

So, yeah. I was gone for a while and I won't be able to update like I wanted because I'm recovering from what happened. Anyway, I'll try and get another chapter out, but another idea came to me so if you don't see another chapter for this or 'To Be A Father' come out, then I might have written out that story.

Until next time, see ya!


	8. Chapter 8

Surprise! I managed to get this one out quick and pretty easily too. Don't get used to it, I simply couldn't stop my fingers this time and I had a hard time going to sleep with the need to write this chapter on my mind. Anyway, enjoy.

* * *

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯ Team RWBY's Room¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

There was silence in the room as the members of Team RWBY remaining members of Team JNPR settled down and looked at Blake. The Faunus said nothing and simply looked back at the others with a blank face before she let out a sigh.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Blake asked, wanting to get a conversation going before things got too awkward.

"When are you leaving?" At that, everyone turned to Ruby before looking back at Blake. The Faunus simply took in a deep breath before letting out and shrugging her shoulders.

"Probably when the last Bullhead leaves tonight." She answered, getting everyone to widen their eyes before they looked outside and saw the sun was already setting. "I don't have any real reason to stay here…except you guys." Blake said, adding to her answer when she saw Ruby pull out a puppy-eyed look. "Look, we can act like things are okay but it's not…" The Faunus said, getting the others to look down.

"Do you have anywhere to go?" Weiss asked.

"I have a place in mind." Blake responded, "I stayed there when I ran away the first time. I'm sure they won't mind letting my stay there for a bit." The two had a stare down before Weiss nodded at the answer. There was an awkward silence that began to settle in the room that Blake wanted to get rid of. "Anything else?" The Faunus asked, getting everyone to look at one another. She could tell that the others had a load of questions, but it seemed that none of them wanted to ask any.

"Where you going to do after you leave?" That got Blake to look up to see Yang looking at her. "I mean, besides hanging around Jaune." That got everyone to look at Blake with raised eyebrows while the Faunus glared at the blonde, who gave an innocent smile in return.

"You're going to be with Jaune?" Pyrrha asked, causing Blake to let out another heavy sigh.

"That was the plan." Blake said, "I was thinking of traveling with him for a while. At least until one of us get tired of the other." That got the others to share a look with one another. "After that, I might travel around on my own." That got another round of shared looks before Ruby spoke up.

"Why not go home for a bit? I'm sure your parents might be missing you." The reaper asked, causing Blake to look at anything other than her.

"Don't you have a home to back to?" Ren asked, getting Blake to shake her head.

"I don't think my parents and I aren't on the best of terms right now." Blake said, looking away from the others. "I didn't leave them on the best of terms. In fact, I called them cowards and walked out on them." That got everyone else to flinch.

"Do you know where Jaune is?" Nora asked she saw that no one else was willing to speak up. The question got everyone to look at the ginger before focusing back on Blake, only to see her nod. "Do you mind if I go with you when you meet him?" Blake nodded at that before focusing on Weiss when she let out a light scoff.

"Why would we want to see Jaune again?" The heiress asked.

"I didn't know that meant it was invitation." Nora fired back, getting Weiss and the others to look at Nora in surprise. "I asked if I could go with Blake, not all of us. You made it clear what you and Yang thought of Jaune…" The ginger said before turning to Pyrrha and Ren. "…you two aren't any better." That got the two to look away. "I just want to see Jaune one more time…probably for the last time." That got Ren and Pyrrha to look back.

"I want to go too!" Ruby said, raising her hand before moving over to Nora.

"Ruby, you can't be serious!" Weiss said, "Why would want to see Jaune?"

"Because it's my choice Weiss." Ruby answered back, "Nora's right, you made it clear that _you_ don't like Jaune, but he's _my_ friend. This might be the last time I ever get to talk to him." The reaper continued, "The least I could do is tell him that he can always rely on me." Blake couldn't help but smile at Ruby's words. After another moment of silence, the Faunus captured everyone's attention by getting up, pausing for a moment before making her way towards the door.

"Blake?" Hearing her former leader say her name, Blake stopped and turned around before smiling,

"I'll meet you at Vale's landing docks tomorrow." The Faunus said, opening the door and closing it before anyone else could say anything.

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯The Den¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

"Why are we here?" Jaune asked, looking at Pyre when the two of them stopped in front of a building. The gunsmith was currently dressed in a pair of jeans that were tucked into black high boots as well as a dark red tank top, a while bolero with orange highlights around the pockets and an arm-length glove. Compared to Jaune, who was simply in a black muscle shirt and a pair of jeans, the gunsmith looked like she was ready for a fight.

"We're going to have a talk with my ex." Pyre said, looking at the building before letting out a sigh. "Might as well get this over with." The Faunus said before she began to walk toward the building. Jaune didn't immediately follow and watched as the two men that were guarding the entrance suddenly ran inside. That got Jaune to raise an eyebrow before his eyes widened entirely when he saw a large set of metal door close in front of the original ones.

"Are you sure we're going to be okay?" The blonde asked, getting Pyre to look back and give a Yang-like smirk. Without a word, the Faunus pulled her arm back and let Jaune watch as a massive holographic robot fist constructed itself around her glove. Jaune had no words when Pyre threw her fist forward and busted the reinforced door open with the holographic construct.

"C'mon, let's get inside." Pyre said as the fist began to dissipate around her arm. Jaune simply gave a numb nod as he followed her in, stopping when he heard an array of guns cocking themselves before he saw what seemed like an army of mobsters aiming their guns at the entrance, where they were standing.

"No one shoot." A voice said, getting Jaune to peek around Pyre to see a man walking up to them. "Pyre, what brings you back to my neck of the woods?" The man asked, getting Pyre to scoff.

"I'm pretty sure we already had this conversation over the phone." The Faunus said, before she reached out and tapped the man on his shoulder with her glove. "Or do I need to knock you around to remember?" At that, Jaune saw the man stiffen up before he turned to other mobsters and waved them off.

"Everyone get back to work!" The man said before he turned around and motioned for the Jaune and Pyre to follow. "This way." Jaune didn't fight and followed the two adults, taking the opportunity to look around the club before his attention was drawn a bar where the man motioned them to sit before going behind and grabbing a bottle and a few shot glasses.

"I'm not here to share a drink, Junior." Pyre said, as the man pour out three shots and pushed two of them forward.

"I know, but I consider it a waste that you don't have one while you're here." Junior said, downing the shot. Pyre followed his example and downed the shot while Jaune simply pushed it away with his hand.

"I don't drink." Jaune said, getting Junior to raise an eyebrow before Pyre reached over and took Jaune's glass.

"Who's the kid?" Pyre simply leaned on the counter and stared at Junior, causing him to hold up his hand in surrender.

"This 'kid'…" Pyre said, jabbing a thumb at Jaune, "…is the one who took out Torchwick." That got Junior to widen his eye before looking at Jaune. "He also managed to survive a Dust fueled explosion, so you might want to reconsider how you address him."

"Right…" Junior said before holding his hand out to Jaune. "Name Hei Xiong, but most here call me Junior." Jaune grabbed the man's hand and gave it a light shake before raising an eyebrow.

"Aren't you a bit old to be called Junior?" Jaune asked, getting the man to roll his eyes and sigh.

"Enough pleasantries." Pyre said, getting the two men's attention. "My info, Junior." This got another sigh from Junior.

"No, I didn't give out an information about you to anyone, especially two kids." The man said, pouring out another shot. "As for _who_ those kids are; never seem them, at least, not around here."

"You think they're with Beacon?" Pyre said, getting Junior to shake his head while Jaune raised an eyebrow.

"If they are…they must've gotten in legitimately." Junior said, "No word from any forgers either, at least none in Vale." That got Jaune to wince a bit before looking around the room.

"Then I'm going to have ask that you poke around." Pyre said, getting Junior to let out a tired sigh.

"Ask around for two kids who knew about you?" The man asked, getting Pyre to nod. "Right, because no one could've heard about you from someone else."

"They mentioned _you_ …of any other excuse and they knew about _us_." Pyre said, leaning in to stress the last word. "If that doesn't raise your suspicion…I don't know how you've managed to live this long." Jaune didn't say anything and watched as the man downed the shot in his hand before drinking straight from the bottle. "We may have had our differences Hei, but in the end we both still care about each other. Don't make me regret it."

"You're right…" Junior said when he lowered the bottle. "…I'll look into it and tell you anything I find." That seemed the be the answer Pyre wanted, as she nodded and sat back down.

"Jaune…." The blonde looked towards the Faunus to see her holding out a key ring. "Why don't you head back, I'm going to talk with Junior some more." Jaune didn't say anything and took the keys before leaving the two at the bar.

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Lady Fyre's¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

"Blake?" Jaune asked, stopping a few feet away from Pyre's store. He hadn't expected to see the Faunus leaning against the wall with a duffle back and a briefcase next to her. The cat Faunus simply gave the blonde a quick wave before Jaune walked up to her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Blake said, getting Jaune to look at her with a confused look on his face before his attention was drawn to her luggage. Seeing that he wasn't going to accept the answer, Blake let out a sigh and looked away. "Ozpin expelled me…for everything I cause at the docks." The Faunus revealed, getting Jaune to widen his eyes.

"He didn't let you stay an extra week?" Jaune asked, looking around to see if anyone else was around. "That's what he offered me before I left."

"I didn't want to stay at Beacon." Blake answered, getting Jaune to blink. "Being there after being expelled…it wasn't something I wanted to deal with. I don't know how you managed to it." Jaune didn't say anything and simply nodded before he walked past Blake and unlocked the door.

"Pyre gave me the keys." Jaune revealed when he saw Blake's confused look. "Were you waiting for a while?" Jaune asked, grabbing Blake's briefcase before the Faunus could and motioning for her to enter.

"A few minutes honestly." Blake said as she walked past Jaune. "I was hoping Pyre could let me stay here for a bit before I head out."

"You're leaving? This soon?" Jaune asked, looking at Blake in surprise. "Looks like you had a back plan. Lucky. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do." Blake didn't respond and simply nodded at Jaune's words. "So, where are you headed?"

"That's…personal." Blake said, her ears flattening when Jaune simply nodded back. "Where's Pyre?"

"With a…friend? I'm not too sure but they talked like they used to be together." Jaune answered with a shrug getting Blake to raise an eyebrow. "She needed to know something and went to some information broker at a nearby club." Blake opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, the door to the shop opened.

"Well, look who's here!" Pyre said before she wrapped Blake in a hug. "What brings you here Kit-kat?" The Faunus asked, tightening her grip while Blake tried to free herself. While she tried to free herself, Blake's nose began to burn.

"She's drunk!" Blake said, looking to Jaune to see him simply watching what was happening. "Help me!"

"How?" Jaune asked, "If there's one thing I know about someone being drunk, it's to not interfere with whatever they're doing. And considering that we're in a weapons store, I'm not taking my chances." The blonde said, getting Blake to look around before giving in and letting Pyre fully wrap her arms around her. "Why don't you two go ahead and get some sleep?" Jaune said, getting Blake squawk in disbelief. "I'll close up here." Pyre didn't seem to object and simply headed up the stairs, Blake still in her grasp. "Good night!"

-The Next Morning-

"Why did I stick around for more…" Pyre groaned out, her head buried in her arms as she sat at the counter. Off the side, Jaune and Blake watched, the blonde with some sympathy while Blake had an indifferent expression.

"Maybe next time you'll think about drinking." Blake said, getting Pyre to shift her head to look her.

"Maybe I should reconsider letting you stay here…" The Faunus said, getting Blake to clam up while Jaune lifted his arms and stepped between the two.

"Look, it's already happened, okay?" The blonde started, his past experiences involving his sisters starting fights going off. "Let's just drop it and focus on something else. Pyre, why don't you get some rest? You've clearly got a hangover." Jaune said before looking to Blake. "You can get settled in while I go out and have a look around town."

"Actually, I've got to get to the landing docks." Blake said, getting Jaune to raise an eyebrow. "I'm meet with Ruby and Nora." Jaune didn't say anything and nodded at the simple explanation before patting Pyre on her back.

"Alright, Pyre can take a nap while we're out and we'll talk about everything when she's better." The blonde said, getting no protest from either woman before they began to move, Jaune and Pyre heading upstairs while Blake left the store.

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Vale Landing Dock¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

"Blake? Blake! Over Here!" Blake stopped where she was and looked around before she stopped a familiar red cloak that was waving at her through the large crowd of students. Making her way over, Blake immediately stopped and felt a frown start to grow on her face when she saw who was waiting for her. Ruby and Nora were there like she had expected, but so were Ren, Pyrrha and Yang. Knowing that it was was useless to delay the meeting, Blake simply took in a deep breath before heading over to the group of five.

"I thought only Ruby and Nora were coming." Blake said, watching as the extra three winced and looked away.

"We just wanted to see Jaune one more time." Ren said, getting Blake to raise an eyebrow before looking at Ruby and Nora for confirmation, which the two nodded in agreement.

"I see Weiss isn't here." Blake pointed out, getting Yang to force out a cough.

"Weiss said that she and Jaune weren't really friends, so she should be expected to be here to see him." Ruby explained, her tone letting Blake know that the small reaper was not happy with the Heiress.

"Well, Jaune's off exploring Vale, so we have some time to kill before meeting him." Blake said, getting a round of nods. "So, if anyone has any options on what we can do, I'm all ears." The Faunus said, her extra set of ears wiggling at her choice of words. "And yes, Yang, I know what I said." The blonde raised her arms in surrender at being pointed out.

"There's a Dust shop that just recently opened." Ruby said, getting everyone's attention. "We can go there for a bit." No one objected to the small reaper's suggestion and motioned for her to lead the way. They didn't get far before Nora spoke up.

"Hey Blake…" Nora said, catching Blake's attention. "…I just noticed this but…" The Ginger said before she pointed to Blake's head. "…where's your bow?"

҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Vale (With Jaune)¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Jaune said as he walked down the street, stopping when he came to a rundown building. Stepping inside, Jaune closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. "Alright, I'm here." The blonde said loudly, before he saw a small girl appear in front of him. Even though she looked unassuming, Jaune knew that she was deadly, if their encounter from the night before was any indication. "What do you want?" Jaune asked, getting the girl to tilt her head before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a picture. Jaune didn't hesitate to take it, giving it a quick look before looking at back at the girl.

The picture was that of Roman's cane.

* * *

And this chapter's done. I know, I know, it's all over the place and I keep delaying Jaune departure from Vale. My only argument is that there are a few things I thought I should wrap up around Vale first before I make Jaune and Blake leave. And if you're wondering when Jaune met Neo...there's a reason for some transitions.

Aside from that, I thought I might answer a few questions that have been asked through PMs:

1\. Yes, Blake never had her bow on since the day she and Jaune stayed with Pyre. Everyone saw that she had as second set of ears, but I didn't put any attention to it for a reason.  
2\. Pyre will come up later but is mainly just a repeating support character for story.  
3\. Jaune's relationship with his friends won't be 'fixed', just adjusted.  
4\. Jaune will deal with some of the 'main' baddies of the story so expect a few of them to show up later.

Anything else, you'll just have to wait until I upload a new chapter.

Until next time, see ya.

P.S. I wrote a very short poem, so if you could, give it a quick look over.


End file.
